Semester of Graduation
Spring 2026
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
International Conflict Management
Department
School of Conflict Management, Peacebuilding and Development
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Volker Franke
Second Advisor
Darina Lepadatu
Third Advisor
Tyler Collette
Abstract
This dissertation reevaluates the role of Christian nationalism as an explanatory framework for support for political violence in the United States. While prior research has treated Christian nationalism as a coherent and influential ideological construct, relatively little work has systematically assessed the measurement validity of commonly used Christian nationalism scales or compared their explanatory framework against potential confounding variables. This study addresses this gap by examining whether victimhood provides a more consistent and empirically robust explanation for support for political violence. Using a multi-dataset comparative design, this research analyzes several nationally representative surveys alongside an original survey instrument I titled Religion & Society. The study employs a range of quantitative methods, including psychometric evaluation (exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis), multivariate regression, and moderation analyses to assess construct validity and predictive performance across contexts.
The findings indicate that commonly used Christian nationalism measures exhibit instability in dimensional structure and limited construct validity across datasets. In contrast, perceived victimhood emerges as a more coherent and consistent predictor of acceptance of political violence. When modeled simultaneously, victimhood demonstrates greater explanatory power and reduces, or in some cases reverses, the independent effect of Christian nationalism. These results suggest that relationships previously attributed to Christian nationalism may be better understood as expressions of grievance-based identity processes rather than a distinct ideological construct. These findings have important implications for the study of political extremism, measurement practices, and the conceptualization of ideology in contemporary political behavior.