Religious bias and stigma: attitudes toward working with a Muslim co-worker

Using social identity and stigma frameworks, this study investigated the extent to which Christians exhibited biased reactions toward a Muslim co-worker. The authors hypothesized that Christians would view a potential Muslim co-worker as lower on competence and less desirable in terms of a working relationship and would be less attracted to an organization when a potential co-worker was Muslim, and that these in-group preferences would be moderated by participant religiosity. Though no main effect for religious group affiliation was found, moderator analyses revealed that highly religious individuals had a lower desire to establish working relationships with or work for a firm employing a prospective Muslim co-worker, while lower religiosity individuals exhibited no such preferences. Research and practical implications are discussed.