Protestant relational ideology and (in)attention to relational cues in work settings

J Pers Soc Psychol. 2002 Oct;83(4):919-29.

Abstract

M. Weber (1947) proposed that exposure to Calvinist Protestantism is associated with limited attention to relational concerns in work settings. Two experiments provide support for this proposition. Study 1 showed that Protestant European Americans raised in traditions of Calvinism were less attentive to affect in spoken words when primed with a work context relative to a nonwork context, and to participants raised as Catholics in either context. Study 2 used an unconscious mimicry paradigm to measure relational focus and showed that within a work setting, male Protestants mimicked a confederate's foot shaking less than male non-Protestants and women in either group. Within a nonwork setting, male Protestants mimicked more and did not differ from male non-Protestants. Women showed greater mimicry than men.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Analysis of Variance
  • California
  • Catholicism
  • Cross-Cultural Comparison
  • Emotions*
  • Employment*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interprofessional Relations*
  • Male
  • Michigan
  • Protestantism / psychology*
  • Social Behavior
  • Social Perception*
  • Socialization