Social judgment of abortion: A black-sheep effect in a Catholic sheepfold

French Catholic participants (N = 340) with high or low religious identific ation read 1 of 8 scenarios presented as an interview with a female target 2 months after she had had an abortion. The experimental device varied situ ational pressure (pressure vs. no pressure). the target's religious social identity (Catholic vs. neutral). and the consequences of abortion for the t arget (positive vs. negative). The participants then rated the acceptabilit y of the target's decision. The participants judged abortion more negativel y in the no-pressure condition. Moreover. the participants with high religi ous identification judged abortion more negatively than did those with low religious identification. In partial support of a black-sheep effect, the p articipants with high religious identification judged the Catholic target m ore negatively than they judged the neutral one in some conditions (pressur e, negative consequences). In other conditions (no pressure, both positive and negative consequences), the participants with low religious identificat ion judged the Catholic target more positively than they judged the neutral one.