Do Unto Others 1 Running Head: Do Unto Others " Do Unto Others " : Effects of Priming the Golden Rule on Buddhists " and Christians " Anti-gay Attitudes

Research suggests that religious individuals are more prejudiced against sexual minorities (Herek, 1987). However, the Golden Rule, a universal concept embedded in many religions, emphasizes the importance of treating others with compassion. The present study examined how priming the Golden Rule influenced Buddhists‟ and Christians‟ attitudes toward gay people. We primed participants with Golden Rule quotations, attributed to Buddha or Jesus, or control quotations and assessed explicit and implicit anti-gay attitudes. Results demonstrated that Christians (N = 585) showed significantly stronger explicit anti-gay attitudes when primed with Buddhaattributed Golden Rule quotations compared to the Jesus-attribution or control conditions, but no difference in implicit attitudes. Buddhists (N = 381) were not affected by the priming implicitly or explicitly, but showed weaker anti-gay attitudes overall than Christians. Although the Golden Rule has an important influence on religious believers, its message of compassion may backfire by increasing prejudice if it comes from an outgroup source.