Date of Award

January 2015

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Counseling Psychology & Community Services

First Advisor

Kara B. Wettersten

Abstract

Atheists in the United States are a gradually growing population representing an increasingly important percentage of the population (Pew Research Survey, 2012). The United States, a largely religious country, and its citizens cultivate many negative positions and principles towards Atheists that progress into discriminatory actions of varying degrees. To date there have been limited attempts to assess how Atheists experience and perceive discrimination in a generally religious country that does not trust Atheists or feel that they fit with the paradigms of what it means to be an American. The purpose of this dissertation project was to create an instrument to support in this process of understanding Atheist discrimination employing the scholarship surrounding Microaggressions (e.g., Sue, 2010a; Sue, 2010b) and associated forms of contemporary racism (e.g., Gaerner & Dovidio, 2005). Herein scale construction procedures, scale descriptors and properties, implications of its use and its limitations are discussed.

Download

Share

COinS