Beyond the presumption of monogamy: the role of religiosity, political conservatism and mononormativity in motivating opposition towards poly families

In light of the current discussion concerning poly families' rights, this study examined the motivational underpinnings of opposition to poly families. Grounded on the theoretical line that institutional and ideological systems can legitimize the ostracism of stigmatized groups, the current exploratory research project examined the relationship between religiosity and opposition to poly families and whether this relationship is mediated by political positioning and mononormativity in a serial fashion. Specifically, Study 1 (N = 277) examined the effect of religiosity on opposition towards polyamorous parents and whether the endorsement of conservative ideology and mononormativity would mediate this relationship. Study 2 (N = 193) replicated the first study's findings using a behavioural expression of negative stigma towards poly families' rights. Study 1 showed that opposition towards poly families might be affected by religiosity and that the impact of religiosity is mediated by conservative ideology and mononormativity. Study 2 showed that religiosity could affect opposition to poly families' rights through conservative ideology and mononormativity. This study provides evidence that the more religious participants are likely to express attitudinal and behavioural opposition towards poly families and that the more religious participants endorsed ideas based on conservative and mononormativity principles, the more they opposed poly families. The current exploratory study shows the relation between system-justifying ideological manifestations in prejudice towards poly families.