To better understand how this perception of the relative compatibility between faith and science affects the perception of Christians in science, researchers performed a subsequent study involving 799 participants, 520 of whom identified as Christians and 279 as nonreligious.
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In the study, participants were asked to complete the same ranking questionnaire as the previous study. However, before completing the evaluation, participants were randomly assigned to read one of two articles. One article highlighted the compatibility between Christianity and science, while the other argued that the two were incompatible.
When participants were given reason to believe that Christianity and science could reasonably coexist, they rated Christians as more competent and intelligent.
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“If people are reminded of how Christianity and science can potentially coexist, people’s perceptions of Christians in science can become more positive,” Mackey said. “Making perceptions of Christians in science more positive is crucial for increasing Christian representation in science and increasing trust between religious and nonreligious individuals in scientific domains.”
