Racial Resentment Fuels Conservative Leanings Among Non-Evangelical White Americans, Study Finds

Sociology professor Philip Schwadel (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) analyzed data from the General Social Survey (2002-2022) to examine how racial resentment shapes political orientation across White religious groups. After filtering for White respondents, the final sample comprised 8,048 adults. Political ideology was measured on a seven-point liberal-to-conservative scale, and religious conservatism was captured through tradition (evangelical Protestant, mainline Protestant, Catholic, other religions, unaffiliated) and biblical literalism (literal, inspired, or fable). Racial resentment was assessed with four items probing beliefs about Black Americans’ responsibility for their status, motivation, discrimination, and perceived work ethic.

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The analysis shows a “ceiling effect” among White evangelical Protestants: they are overwhelmingly conservative regardless of resentment levels. By contrast, non-evangelical Whites (mainline Protestants, Catholics, other-religion affiliates, and the non-religious) display a strong positive association between higher racial resentment and conservative orientation. When resentment is low, evangelicals remain more conservative than non-evangelicals; when resentment is high, the gap disappears.

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Prior scholarship has linked white evangelical Christianity to Republican support, often attributing this to shared racial attitudes. Schwadel’s work expands the lens to include non-evangelical White Americans, revealing that racial resentment can be a decisive factor for conservative alignment outside the evangelical bloc.

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• Philip Schwadel – Lead author, professor of sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

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• White evangelical Protestants – Defined by both tradition and literalist biblical views; consistently high conservatism.

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• Non-evangelical White groups – Mainline Protestants, Catholics, adherents of other faiths, and unaffiliated individuals; political views vary with resentment levels.

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• Sample size: 8,048 White respondents.

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• Time frame: 2002-2022 GSS waves.

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• Measures: 7-point political ideology scale; religious tradition; biblical literalism; four-item racial resentment index.

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• Controls: Attendance, age, gender, income, education, marital status, region, city size.

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The findings suggest that racial resentment operates as a hidden driver of conservatism among White Americans who are not religiously conservative. This nuance refines predictions about electoral behavior, indicating that shifts in racial attitudes could reshape partisan alignments beyond the evangelical electorate.

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Schwadel explains that the study confirms a strong link between resentment and conservatism for non-evangelicals, while evangelical conservatism is already near maximal, leaving little room for resentment to further differentiate political stance. He emphasizes that the results do not imply white evangelicals lack resentment; rather, they are more likely to express it than non-evangelicals. The researcher notes the need for longitudinal designs to untangle whether changes in religious affiliation precede shifts in racial attitudes or vice-versa.

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The study relies on cross-sectional survey data, limiting causal inference. The racial resentment index captures only one dimension of prejudice, and the GSS questions may not reflect evolving forms of racism. Schwadel acknowledges that without tracking individuals over time, the direction of influence between faith, prejudice, and voting remains uncertain.

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No contradictory findings appear in the source material, but the analysis highlights gaps: absence of longitudinal evidence, reliance on a single operationalization of racial resentment, and lack of qualitative insight into how respondents interpret the survey items.

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• “The research and popular discourse on racism/racial resentment, religion, and politics focuses on how views of race connect white evangelical Christians to conservative politics and the Republican party,” — Philip Schwadel, Sociology Professor

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• “White evangelicals are highly likely to be politically conservative, so much so that there is little difference in the likelihood of being politically conservative between those with higher and lower levels of racial resentment,” — Philip Schwadel

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• “But, non-evangelical whites with higher levels of racial resentment are far more likely to be politically conservative than non-evangelical whites with lower levels of racial resentment.” — Philip Schwadel

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• “I want to be clear that white evangelicals are considerably more likely than white non-evangelicals to express racial resentment,” — Philip Schwadel

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• “It is just that racial resentment doesn’t explain political differences among white evangelicals like it does among other white Americans.” — Philip Schwadel

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Future research should track participants longitudinally to observe how changes in religious affiliation, racial attitudes, and political ideology co-evolve. Employing alternative measures of racism—such as implicit bias tests or broader prejudice scales—could test the robustness of the observed patterns across different conceptualizations of racial bias.

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