Different images of God predict religious nationalism among Christians

Religious nationalism occurs when people combine their religious beliefs with their attitudes about national politics and identity. Scholars have examined how religious nationalism predicts various sociopolitical attitudes; yet less attention has been dedicated to examining the predictors of this ideology. We report studies exploring the possibility that different images of God predict religious nationalism. Analyses of Waves I (N = 1076) and II (N = 1099) of the Baylor Religion Surveys found that US Christians harbor different images of God (benevolent, authoritarian, engaged, and angry) and that believing in a God that is benevolent, angry, and engaged predicted stronger religious nationalism. We partially replicate these findings in a preregistered study using US and Italian Christians (N = 465). Stronger religious nationalism predicted a conspiracy mentality and more xenophobia across both contexts. The findings suggest that different images of God can predispose people to harbor an ideology of religious nationalism.