‘Religious Priming’: Location of Voting Booths Can Sway Decisions
- Posted on January 21, 2012 at 6:34am by
Liz Klimas
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(Image: Columbia Missourian/Andrew Williams)
Polling places often include schools, churches and some other public buildings. A growing body of research states that the location of where you cast you vote could be influencing those decisions to an extent, a factor called “priming.”
A new study from Baylor University found that of those in England and the Netherlands who stopped to take a survey near a Christian church were likely to report themselves as more politically conservative and had a more negative attitude toward non-Christians, compared to those answering survey questions near a government building.
The researchers consider these findings significant because churches and other buildings with some association to religious groups are sometimes the location of voting booths.
“The important finding here is that people near a religious building reported slightly but significantly more conservative social and political attitudes than similar people near a government building,” co-author Wade Rowatt, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor, in a press release. “In a close election, the place where people vote — a school, a church, a government building — could affect the outcome . For example, a higher percentage of people voting in a church instead of a school might vote for a conservative candidate or proposition.”
Psychologist Jordan LaBouff, lead author of the study, said that these findings “raise questions about how our spaces can influence our attitudes”.
The researchers conducting the surveys were careful to make sure those interviewed near churches were not expressly in the area to attend church. The group of 99 participants were diverse with more than 30 countries represented in the demographic and varying religious beliefs.
Priming, according to the press release, is when “stimulus such as a verbal or a visual cue [...] influences a response.“ The authors specifically looked at ”religious priming” but this it is not the only sort of priming they point out. The authors cited a study from Stanford University published in 2008 evaluating a 2000 school funding referendum in Arizona. Those voting in schools were more likely to support the tax than those in churches or other buildings.
A 2010 study of the “polling place priming” effect by researchers at the Boston University College of Law also points out the strong correlation between voting location and its influence on certain ballot issues. With this evidence in mind, the Boston University researchers consider the constitutionality of hosting voting booths in churches due to the “unconscious nature [...] on citizen’s decision making” and the First Amendment.
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Comments (47)
cryinginthedesert
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:19pmIs this a joke study? All this tells me is that people don’t know their facts before they go and vote. I make informed decisions BEFORE I get to the polling place, not after. My ballot is going to read the same regardless if it’s a Library or Church.
I think they are just really trying already to dig up anything to toss out ballots in the fall. Those subversive evangelical’s are stealing the election……. well, maybe God is just changing peoples minds. it does say in the Bible He raises them up and put’s them down.
Report Post »The Third Archon
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:01pmOne distinct possibility that I feel was un-addressed by the study was that they might be reversing the causality; it may not be that these locations influence peoples’ political attitudes, but rather that people who hold certain political attitudes hold a common predilection (with other politically like-minded individuals) to prefer, or be more comfortable, voting in certain places. So, for example, it MIGHT be the case that churches tend to influence people to vote more conservatively OR it might be the case the conservatives are the kind of people who tend to, consciously or otherwise, prefer voting in churches.
Whenever we do science, we must be very cautious and carefully study the data so we can lay out EVERY possible explanation for the observation, then begin to work out which one is most convincing. Only when we have on explanation remaining that we are reasonably satisfied with should we start making strong assertions of fact.
Report Post »Darlie
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 5:11pmYou had to see this one coming a mile off. And, to boot, this is coming from Baylor. Thank you for aiding the enemy, Baylor. I wonder how many tax dollars and formerly hard-working (now retired) elderly church members’ money you stole to come up with this study.
This is one of the reasons our family left the So. Baptist Assn. 20 years ago. My husband, the church treasurer, wouldn’t write any more checks to a church university that hired non-believers to teach the students of our church sent there.
Report Post »mbck1491
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 2:47pmMy mind is already made up before I even walk into the voting booth. Maybe this article is written about the simple minded people.
Report Post »flatdaddio
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 2:00pmwhere I live all the poles are located in church owned buildings….nothing wrong with it…
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 12:33pmThese kinds of articles serve to demonstrate how shallow the ‘elite’ really believe the voting public “IS”.
Report Post »Wyatt's Torch
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:00amHmmm… does this mean that in faiiiiirrrrness we should soon be having all elections in govt. controlled buildings or to even the playing field will we should have voting in crack houses and nudey bars so every dreg of society can feel coooomfortable?
Report Post »Wyatt's Torch
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:02amHoney… I am going down to the strip club, to er… vote…. again.
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 12:31pmIs this implying that if they held the voting in a public toilet, I’d have voted for obango?
Report Post »tharpdevenport
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 8:47amNo ‘if”, “and’s“ or ”but’s” about it — if you are swayed by a church when voting, you’re an idiot.
You vote on principle, what’s right, whether the candidate is a person who is going to work AGAINST the American people, etc.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 4:53pmPew research concludes a higher percentage of people attending a Catholic church instead of a Church that teaches from the Holy Bible vote for a Democrat candidate and liberal propositions.
Report Post »Patrick Henry II
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 7:14pmBut if there is a flag raised they tend to vote Republican. Everyone should have a flag up on election day. It made like an 8% swing. amazing.
Report Post »Badler
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 12:58amI guess you just don’t know better than to speak like that. The Catholic Church has a reading from the Old Testament and a reading form the New Testament at every mass.
Do you believe everything you are told? That is the difference with the Catholic Church: you are allowed to study other religions and still remain Catholic.
Report Post »Jim in Houston
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:57amSo the Catholic church doesn’t use the bible? What are you,some kind of fringe nut job?
Report Post »Texas Sheepdog
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 4:05pmGod deliver me from the convoluted “logic” of Social Engineers! Any thinking person knows that surveys, polls, and “research studies” can be engineered to garner the results you want. All you have to do is select the people who will more than likely give you the answer you seek.
I’d suggest that those “slightly more conservative” voters didn’t get that way because they voted in a church, They were already more conservative… chose to live in a more conservative area (hence the close proximity to a church)… and therefore voted at the church because it’s their LOCAL designated polling place.
Report Post »Leave it to Libs to hitch the horse to the rear of the cart. Poor things – the whole chicken-and-egg thing left ‘em totally confused, and they still don’t get Cause and Effect!
nothinghere
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 1:30pm.another typical socialist article showing you exactly how america has gotten into the shape it’s in.—-1rst, there’s a 100% chance it’s your tax dollars that funded this study to promote their ideoly againist yours. 2nd, when mentioning people voting near a religious building it’s reported that these people have a SLIGHTLY more conservative attitude, when mentioning voting at a school buildings asking for a tax raise these voters would MORE THAN LIKELY vote for the tax hike.—-3rd, the recomendation, test the constitutionality of voting near any religious bldgs. because there’s a SLIGHT chance this may promote a conservative attitude, no mention of stopping voting in schools where there’s a MORE THAN LIKELY chance people would vote for the school tax increase.—,the fact they discovered ( your spaces can influence your attitude).—-these socialist have known this for years, why do you think they keep their voter base in the worst schooling and housing spaces in america, then every election cycle they will show the slums and horrible schools in the socialist controled cities and states on the news followed buy the homes of corp. ceo’s.—if the ows’ers were honest they would look at where the taxpayers money goes,get the state,county,city,school,fire and police budgets and follow the money, but i know they won’t, because they know that the public 1%er’s tax money is going into the politicals 1%er’s pocket, that is financing their grass-roots organization.
Report Post ».
garyM
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 12:37pmGingrich was leading South Carolina by 20 points during ALL the New Hampshire lying. Fox and the news media REPORTED fabricated false polls because many sheep want to vote for a winner even THE PERSON THEY PROJECT TO BE AHEAD is a liberal democrat. Sometimes it works and sometimes it don’t. I’m hoping Newt is still leading by 20 points just like before all the talking heads started campaigning for Romney! The news media is to the people as the choir is to the church, that’s where all the noise starts, it‘s sounds real pretty by it’s where most of the lying devilish trouble makers hang out and seems to be where the devil landed when God kicked him out of heaven!
Report Post »maccow
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 2:15pm@Garym
Report Post »Could you at least try to tie your Newt advertisement into the story at hand? I’m looking for commentary on this story not your opinions on Newt here.
Thanks
RightThinking1
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 12:19pm“…people near a religious building reported slightly but significantly more conservative social and political attitudes than similar people near a government building..”
Report Post »Well that’s a bit of staggering news…., NOT.
My question is, where could you go to find a denser population of liberal people than the proximity of a government building? An OWS camp? I can see the headline now: “Shocking study finds that neighbors of Methodist churches are more conservative than Occupy Wall Street Campers!”
Or perhaps, “Residents living close to Catholic church found to be more conservative than students loitering around U. of Wisconsin Political Science building!”
ThorLoser
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 10:57amCorrelation does not imply causation.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 10:39amObvious seems to be a socialist concept to hide and prime voting locations.
I recall as a child my accompanying my father while waiting to vote. Looking back I can see that the most likely cause for schools and churches for polling is that there were very long lines, the best place to shelter folks is in gymnasiums. Where do you suppose you can use gymnasiums at no charge? Schools and churches.
Report Post »Deckle
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 9:24amMy voting place is a church and I will fight to the end to keep it there!
Report Post »hidden_lion
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 9:39amWhere do they find this garbage? Are people mindless sheep? Most people I know already know who they are going to vote for before they step into the booth. This study is ridiculous.
Report Post »saranda
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 9:48am@hiddenlion – the answer to your query is yes, people are sheep. How else can you explain Christians voting for the self admitted adulterer who left one wife with cancer and the next with MS all while carrying on affairs within the marriage. And was booted from congress by his own party.
Report Post »Christians my ass.
sWampy
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 9:51amHidden lion, it a typical liberal technique, they pretend they are being discriminated against/cheated in some way, they use this to move/hide voting places, put them in locations people can’t find or only criminals would set foot in for fear of their lives, bingo, instant 20 point swing.
Report Post »garyM
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 12:39pmRomney could have been something if he had tried!
Report Post »Blue Istari
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 2:45pm@Saranda – You seem to have done some tremendous research on the voting demographics of the last primary. I’d love to see your statistics on how many Christians voted for each of the candidates, and their personal reasons for doing so.
Facetiousness aside, it‘s real easy to call people sheep when you can’t read people‘s minds and they don’t think the way you think they should. I’m a Christian, and Newt’s personal life disgusts me, but I completely accept that someone else of the same mind would vote for him based on his political accomplishments.
Report Post »Suchiazski
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 9:04amWell this is kind of expected and understandable. Just like if they had a voting booth in a back alley in in Columbia, you’d probably get a disproportionately high number of homeless people voting, who would likely vote Democrat.
Report Post »Midwest Blonde
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 8:07amI don’t know about your area but here, where I live, you register to vote, and you vote in a specific place – school, church, doesn’t matter – the cities are all divided up into districts – you can‘t vote in a district you’re not registered in. So, their theory sort of goes up in smoke doesn’t it?
(What does it way about me – that I voted in a recreation center?? THAT’s where the booths for my area were. And I’m Conservative)
Report Post »child of the King
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 10:06amHere in Oklahoma we have precints also ,and those voting places are in churches,schools,and other public buildings.I’m a conservative and where Ivote,whether it be a church ,school,or another public building, has no bearing on how I vote. I can see it now , voting booths in churches is unconstitutional.It violates the “so called ” seperation of church and state portion of the first amendment.Someone might feel uncomfortable ormight be offended by having to go into a church building to vote.
Report Post »tersky
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 12:53pmI vote in a rec center too, and that is SO not my usual hang-out. I agree, this is dumb. They didn’t survey people who were actually voting, just people who happened to be in the same area at some unrelated time. The people who are in that same are to vote, are going to be a completely different crowd. Duh.
The part about people being more likely to vote for school funds if they are actually voting in a school… that does make sense… but I don’t see it actually changing how people are going to vote for things that have nothing directly to do with the polling place.
Report Post »tersky
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 12:55pmSo, does it say anywhere that they DIDN’T choose Sunday afternoon as people were getting out of church, or perhaps the same day as a Global Warming conference to conduct those surveys?
Report Post »Walter P
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 7:48amOr it might just mean that you’re more likely to find conservatives in the area of churches and liberals in the area of government offices. The only way this “research” would be valid was if they asked the same people (not similar people) how they felt about issues in various locations. Basically I think this poll was set up to try to eliminate churches, religious buildings as possible poll locations. Just one more brick in the anti-religion wall the left is building.
Report Post »makeastand007
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 7:47amThis should be the easiest choice to make… An Anti Christ, raised as an atheist, OBama, who cannot even say one nation under God without wincing. Or any of our REP. choices
Report Post »BOMUSTGO
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 7:30amYou could put a voting booth in a Port-A-Potty and I would still vote against Obama!!!
Report Post »quicker
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 7:48amThe prefect voting booth for democrats.
Report Post »quicker
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 7:53amthe prefect voting booth for democrats.All we ever get from them is crap.And when their ideas don`t work all they do is p i ss and moan.
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 8:06amthe Libs would like the welfare office so they can give out food-stamps if you vote commie…
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 7:20amThis “poll data” is… the Most Unscientific… BS! Was it Research by Global Warming Advocates?
Report Post »garyM
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 7:07amJust had a Fox News guy exit polling in South Carolina, he said 3 people polled, 2 Romney votes and 1 Newt vote. Pretty suggestive reporting I think, much more influential than religious atmosphere crap than this dumb article spoke of!
Report Post »Go Newt!
qpwillie
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 7:39amI did my own “pre-voting” poll last night with 5 South Carolinians. All 5 said they were voting for Newt.
Report Post »garyM
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 7:02amNewt Gingrich, on the verge of resurrecting his campaign, is aiming for his first primary win in Saturday’s South Carolina contest as he puts Mitt Romney on the defensive over his tax records and fends off questions about his personal life.
The former House speaker enters the election with rising poll numbers and the publicity from two strong debate performances at his back.
Romney, who had been leading in South Carolina following his decisive win in the New Hampshire primary, acknowledged Friday that the race is now “neck and neck.”
All this has been of spite of the fact that fox news, the blaze and all the liberal rinos have been pulling any lying for the liberal ROMNEY for months! Go Newt!
Report Post »hidden_lion
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 10:24amSo character has no bearing? Newt is seriously lacking in the Character dept. The republic is doomed.
Report Post »paulusmaximus
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 12:40pmNOT NEWT! This is anti CNN sentiment and a bad miss step by Sara Palin. I know who I will vote for before I get in my car in the morning, whether a church school or even if it were to be a bar.The idea that Christians are or not voting for Newt is at best a show of bias ignorance.They tell me it will all be decided by Fla. so the rest of the country will have no say, but I’m still watching and know who I will vote for.
Report Post »rt elms
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 6:45amThe priming effect obviously does not affect me. I vote in our local courthouse and vote against increased taxes and government EVERY TIME!
Report Post »Tower7_TRUTH
Posted on January 21, 2012 at 7:01amIs Gingrich’s support base really out there, or just a figment of the corporate media’s imagination? Newt Gingrich still leads in many polls for the South Carolina primary, but how? Yet another Gingrich campaign event was canceled due to poor attendance. The AP reported that the candidate stepped down from a speaking engagement with the Southern Republican Leadership.
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