Positive God Images and Positive Emotions toward God: Exploring Variations among Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics

How people view God is an important part of religious life. The purpose of this study is to see if four positive God image measures and two measures of positive emotions toward God vary among Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics. The data come from a recent nationwide survey in the United States (N = 2500). The findings reveal that, compared to Whites and Hispanics, Blacks have more positive image of God scores on all four measures. The data indicate that Blacks are also more likely than Whites and Hispanics to have strong positive emotions toward God. In contrast, consistent differences between Hispanics and Whites failed to emerge across all of the study measures.