Pluralistic Ignorance Towards Atheists

Dr Peter Jonason will explore research as to why some people like atheists in private but less in public.

Across three US studies, the impact of perceived social norms on attitudes and positive behavioral intentions towards atheists and religious believers were investigated. Reported attitudes, reported acceptability of expressing positive and negative attitudes, and reported positive behavioral intentions disproportionately favored religious believers over atheists. However, participants reported a higher likelihood of engaging in positive behaviors towards atheists when the threat of public scrutiny was limited, indicating that the social norm in the U.S. may be suppressing privately held, positive behavioral intentions that would otherwise support atheists, creating a state of pluralistic ignorance. Other factors will also be discussed.

Dr. Jonason earned his B.A. in Communication Science and Political Science and his M.A. in Communication Science from the University of Connecticut. He earned his Ph.D. in social psychology from New Mexico State University. Since 2011, he has been in the School of Social Sciences and Psychology at Western Sydney University. He has authored more than 75 publications during his career; 20 in 2015 alone. In 2014 he won the IgNobel award in psychology and in 2015 he served Visiting Scholar positions at Lomonosov Moscow State University and the University of Western Ontario.

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Entry to this event will be $5.00 for supporter members of Sydney Atheists and $10.00 for non supporter attendees. Annual Supporter membership is only $20. To become a supporter member, please go to: http://www.sydneyatheists.org/p/donations-and-membership.html

Our talk events are held at the Function Room at Club Redfern:

2nd Floor, 159 Redfern St
REDFERN, NSW 2000

The entrance is 20 metres across Gibbons Street from Redfern Station under the SPAR sign. You can walk up the stairs, the escalator or use the elevator to the 2nd floor where the club is located. The outside of the venue is shown below.

Parking is available in the shopping complex and adjacent streets.

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Please have your meal in the adjacent lounge areas where there is a variety of food and drinks including Australian and Chinese meals - see the menu selection at: http://www.clubredfern.com.au/dining

Sydney Atheists look forward to welcoming everyone to a great atmosphere and experience.

Dinner is available from 5.30pm whilst the talks begin at 7.00pm. As there will be limited table space, it is preferable to have meals in the restaurant section of the club before entering the function area, though bringing drinks in will be fine.

Once a month the Meetup meets for a topical discussion with a special guest. Special guests in the past have been members of the meetup, or experts from outside, speaking on topics of their expertise. If you wish to speak, or know somebody who would like to speak to us, please contact Steve 0450 123 211.

With the approval of our speakers, we also attempt to record our talks and put them up on our youtube channel (http://youtube.com/sydneyatheists).