Is Religiosity in a Prospective Partner Always Desirable? The Moderating Roles of Shared Social Identity and Medium of Communication when Choosing Interaction Partners

The profession of religion gives rise to myriad inferences and connotations, yet surprisingly little research has examined how it may influence with whom we choose to work. Two experiments conducted at a UK university investigated how religiosity by prospective collaborators affected attitudes and behaviour towards them. Participants in experiment 1 (N = 96) and experiment 2 (N = 120) demonstrated that individuals have a greater preference for, and are more likely to choose, a partner who shares their religious tendencies, but only when they anticipate working face-to-face. When electronic communication was anticipated, this bias disappeared. The implications for these findings are then discussed, particularly with regard to how they may impact on real-life issues such as online recruitment.