Replication Data for: Divine Direction: How Providential Religious Beliefs Shape Foreign Policy Attitudes

Despite recent scholarly and popular work regarding the role of religion in U.S. foreign policy, we still know little about how religious factors affect the public’s foreign policy views. This paper proposes one potential mechanism for influence—the connection of providential beliefs to foreign policy issues through a compelling religious frame—and tests the explanatory power of this approach through a nationally-administered survey experiment. The “providential” orientation of respondents—the extent to which they believe in a divinely-authored plan—is measured through questions that tap the non-denomination specific nature of religious beliefs. A multi-methods approach of means comparisons, logit analyses, and exact logistical regression indicates that when a foreign policy is framed in religious terms, providentiality is a significant predictor of support, even in the face of countervailing political beliefs. These findings highlight one mechanism through which religion can influence foreign policy attitudes, thereby demonstrating the value of further investigating the role of religious beliefs in politics.