Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Hearing Religious Language, Making Political Choices

宗教修辞在美国的政治演讲中经常被引用，绝大多数美国人声称信仰上帝。然而，宗教性和宗教修辞是美国政治研究中被忽视的话题。鉴于信仰对这么多美国人的重要性，以及宗教语言在政治修辞中无处不在，理解宗教信仰和公众舆论之间的关系对于研究政治态度很重要。宗教和政治的规范方面一直是许多争论的主题，但到目前为止，还缺乏认真的实证研究。本论文的长期目标是探讨美国政治诉求中的宗教语言与态度之间的关系。该项目分为三组问题：1)政客如何使用宗教语言，人们如何在政治诉求中听到宗教语言；2)宗教语言是如何处理的，依赖于双重过程模型；3)如果宗教考虑被认为是相关的，它们何时与其他倾向相冲突，如意识形态或经济自身利益？当冲突发生时，人们是如何处理的？目前的研究重点是美国人如何听到宗教语言。具体地说，研究侧重于包含明显宗教语言、编码宗教语言和不包含宗教语言的候选人呼吁的不同效果。该项目的假设是，宗教语言对美国人是有说服力的，而暗含宗教色彩的提法尤其有说服力。编码的宗教语言应该特别有说服力，原因有两个：首先，一些美国人对宗教语言反感，编码的指代可能会让他们摸不着头脑。其次，那些懂这种语言的人很可能倾向于支持提出宗教诉求的候选人，而这种诉求的排他性增加了说服力。为了验证这些假设，在多个地理区域(芝加哥、纽约、费城、达勒姆、南本德)进行了不同样本的实验。候选人的呼吁将以竞选传单和电视广告的形式进行。智力价值：宗教诉求在政治中的影响，以及密码交流，都是重要的政治现象，尚未得到很好的理解。拟议的研究设计能够识别这些影响。更广泛的影响：这项研究的发现将展示政治诉求中的宗教修辞如何影响政治态度。这项工作将为关于宗教在政治中的作用的更广泛的辩论提供经验基础。此外，这项研究将展示编码呼吁的效果，这有助于形成一部重要的文献，说明个人如何在不疏远外部群体的情况下向内部成员推销他们的想法。基于其排他性的编码信息的附加吸引力是对人际传播和群体动力学研究的重要贡献。

Religious rhetoric is commonly invoked in political speech in the US, and the vast majority of Americans profess belief in God. However, religiosity and religious rhetoric are neglected topics in the study of American politics. Given the importance of faith to so many Americans, and the ubiquity of religious language in political rhetoric, understanding the relationship between religiosity and public opinion is important to the study of political attitudes. The normative side of religion and politics has been the subject of much debate, but so far, careful empirical work is missing. The long-term goal of this dissertation is to explore the relationship between religious language in political appeals and attitudes in the United States. The project is broken down into three sets of questions: 1) How are politicians using, and how are people hearing religious language in political appeals, 2) How is religious language processed, relying on a dual process model, and 3) If religious considerations are considered relevant, when are they in conflict with other predispositions, such as ideology or economic self interest? How are people dealing with conflict when it happens? The current research focuses on how Americans are hearing religious language. Specifically, the research focuses on the differing effects of candidate appeals that contain obvious religious language, coded religious language, and no religious language. The hypotheses of the project are that religious language is persuasive to Americans and that coded religious references are particularly persuasive. Coded religious language should be particularly persuasive for two reasons: first, some Americans are turned off by religious language, and coded references are likely to go over their heads. Second, those who understand the language are likely to be predisposed to favor candidates who make religious appeals, and the exclusivity of the appeal has an added persuasive appeal. To test these hypotheses, experiments are conducted with diverse samples in multiple geographic areas (Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Durham, South Bend). Candidate appeals will be in the form of campaign flyers and television advertisements. Intellectual Merit: The effect of both religious appeals in politics, and coded communication are important political phenomena that are not well understood. The proposed research design is capable of discerning these effects. Broader Impacts: The findings from this research will demonstrate how religious rhetoric in political appeals affects political attitudes. This work will provide an empirical basis for the broader debate over the role of religion in politics. Further, the research will demonstrate the effects of coded appeals, which contributes towards an important literature on how individuals market their ideas to ingroup members without alienating an outgroup. The added appeal of a coded message based on its exclusivity is an important contribution to research on interpersonal communication and group dynamics.