Martin Turman-Williams
Ivy Tech Community College
Dr. Lorie Davis
July 18th, 2024
, 2
Battling the cognitive dissonance of being a christian and gay in the 21st century
Tongeren, V (2021) Existentially threatening stimuli increase religious cognitive dissonance among
the less intrinsically religious, Psychology of Religion and Spirituality p 298-303.
The primary basis of religious cognitive dissonance is one centered in internal strife. It is
based in the instinctual battle of what is classified as “head versus heart” or categorized as
mental or emotional. The study suggests that you can calculate by computing the mean
difference between a person's “doctrinal” representations of God and that of a personal
experience of God.
Within the confines of this study it is discussed how people have shifted perspectives of
God and themselves, evaluated throughout time, terrorism, and tumultuous turmoil. The study
points out the ability for most participants to view God as either authoritative or benevolent.
Therefore altering participants' personal perspectives, from both drawing closer and pulling away
from religious sentiments. This study focused on people from the midwest who primarily
identify as Chrisitan but also admit they have faced or confronted challenges with faith and
personal perspectives of God. The study indicated that when people experience disasters, it can
challenge their assumptions about what God is like and create a religious cognitive dissonance.
However, research does provide inference that experiences with the grace or benevolence
of God over time should have a more prolonged effect. Therefore, it indicates that how people
interact, experience, and understand God should or does improve over time, however, further
research is needed as the study also suggests.
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