Home » Archives for Kimberly Rios

Published by Kimberly Rios:

Increasing Christians’ participation in science and reducing negative stereotypes through communal attributes

Summary: Christians and nonreligious individuals emphasize different interpersonal traits. Christians see themselves as more warm than competent, indicating an emphasis on communal traits, which are related to consideration of others (e.g., warmth; Abele & Wojciszke, 2007). Conversely, nonreligious individuals see themselves as more competent than warm, indicating an emphasis on agentic traits, which are related to the advancement of the self (e.g., assertiveness; Rios et al., 2015). Christians’ emphasis on communal traits may partially explain their underrepresentation in science: Christians may see science as a bad “fit” for their communal values, as people who emphasize communal goals exhibit more disinterest in science (Diekman et al., 2011) and science is related to accomplishing agentic values (Ramsey, 2017). Furthermore, nonreligious individuals may see people who do not share their values (i.e., agentic traits) negatively, which may be one reason nonreligious individuals stereotype Christians (who emphasize communal values) as incompetent in science (Rios

Read More

Episode 3: Science, Religion and Stereotypes with Dr Kimberly Rios

Dr Kim Rios is Associate Professor of Psychology at Ohio University where she has taught since 2013. whose research explores the relationship between science, religion and identity from a Social Psychological perspective. She is interested in the causes and consequences of stereotyping/prejudice among religious majorities (such as, negative stereotypes about Christians’ scientific abilities) and minorities (for example, negative stereotypes about atheists’ morality and trustworthiness), both within the U.S. and cross-culturally. You can read her Researcher Profile here. In this episode, Kim talks about how our perception of things, as seemingly fixed as the length of a straight line, are shaped by group pressures. We also discuss the differential impacts which memberships of majority and minority social groups have on our identity as well as the potential for us to ‘choke’ under pressure, and Kim even introduces us to her dog Jimmy!” This podcast is 59 mins and 27 seconds The

Read More

How Does the Science-Religion Conflict Narrative Affect Christians?

By Kimberley Rios This article was originally published on the Heterodox Blog and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License. Just a few weeks ago, a blog post appeared in my social media news feed titled “Why your Christian friends and family members are so easily fooled by conspiracy theories.” The post caught my eye not just because of its controversial title, but also because its central message – that Christians should avoid spreading and endorsing misinformation – resonated with my research on negative stereotypes about Christians in science. Indeed, the notion that science is incompatible with religion (particularly Christianity) prevails in many Western societies. The 2009 appointment of Francis Collins, a self-identified evangelical Christian, as director of the National Institutes of Health was fraught with controversy, and Harvard professor and popular science author Steven Pinker continually makes headlines for arguing that religion has no place in intellectual or scientific

Read More
Logo-v4

Follow us