Fixed or Flexible: The Effect of Negative Feedback on Ones Religious Identity Erika Brown Oklahoma State University

Previous Research Dealing with religiosity (Mullet, Barros, Frongia, Usai & Shafighi, 2003) Dealing with effects of negative events on self-esteem (DeHart & Pelham, 2007) Anticipated that those highly religious will re-evaluate their identity more so than those who are not religious.

Anticipated Results

Method: Participants 24 undergraduate students Mean age of 19 years. 63% were female Majority were Caucasian (80%) All were Christian

Method: Procedure Participants first completed SIBS Categorized into high or low religious identity Pre-Feedback rating of subjective religiosity

Method: Procedures Took difficult Bible quiz Filler task Ruse Negative feedback Post-Feedback subjective religiosity

Results Pre- and Post-Feedback ratings overall Matched-pairs t-test t(23) = 1.79, p =.086, two –tailed High and low Religious Identity Independent samples t-test t(14) = , p =.090, two-tailed

Results

Discussion Overcompensation Limitations: Low power High SIBS scores Future research Replicate Different denominations

Thank you!