Religious schema and tolerance towards alienated groups in Indonesia

National discourses that are acceptable by the alienated groups determine the level of public tolerance towards those groups. This study thus examined the relationships between religious schema and tolerance of two alienated groups in Indonesia, namely, the atheists and believers in indigenous faiths. Additionally, the study explored the differences in tolerance of these two groups across university cohorts encompassing discrete social climates and curricula. This cross-sectional study involved several universities with differing demographic makeup. The analysis results revealed that the characteristics of the evaluated target group determined the significance of the associations between the dimensions of religious schema and tolerance. Moreover, students in homogeneous educational and social environments tended to exhibit low levels of tolerance towards alienated groups. This study highlighted the importance of scrutinising the functions of intergroup exposure and dialogues in improving intergroup understanding, acceptance, and tolerance within a plural society.