Across a series of seven studies, at team led by Steven Roberts at Stanford University found that the way that we perceive God — and in particular our beliefs about God’s race — may influence our decisions about who should be in positions of leadership more generally.

First, the team examined how 444 American Christians — a mixture of men and women, some black and some white — pictured God. In their “indirect” measure, the researchers asked participants to view 12 pairs of faces that differed either in age (young vs old), race (white vs black), or gender (man vs woman), and pick the photo of each pair they thought looked more like God.

Participants were more likely to see God as old than young, and male rather than female. But participants’ view of God’s race depended on their own race: white participants tended to see God as white, while black participants tended to see God as black.

So people clearly conceptualise God in a specific way — but how does this relate to decisions they make in their everyday lives?

For Christians, God is the ultimate leader, so perhaps they look for the characteristics they ascribe to God in other leaders too. So in a second study, the team asked more than 1,000 participants to complete the same measures as before, as well as a new task in which they imagined working for a company that was looking for a new supervisor. They saw 32 faces that varied in gender and race and had to rate how well each person would fit the position.

The team found that when participants saw God as white, they tended to give white candidates a higher rating compared to black candidates. The reverse was true too: participants who saw God as black tended to rate black candidates as more suited than white ones. People who saw God as male also rated males higher than females. A subsequent study found that even children aged 4 to 12 generally perceived God as male and white.

The study was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.