Nearly a quarter of Americans support the belief that small businesses should be allowed to refuse to serve atheists, which has increased almost ten percentage points since 2014, the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) polled.

The poll conducted by the PRRI found that men were more likely than women to agree that small business owners should be allowed to refuse service to atheists on religious grounds, 29% of men agreed compared to the 21% of women that agreed.

It also discovered that Republicans (37%) were more likely than independents (21%) and Democrats (17%) and while support levels remained stable for independents and Democrats, Republicans increased their support compared to 2014 (19%).

Of all Americans, 35% of white evangelical Protestants supported religiously based refusals to serve atheists, increased from 21%, while white mainline Protestants followed at 29%, but had increased from 9%.

The survey was conducted through telephone interviews between April 9 and April 20, 2019 among a random sample of 1,100 adults aged 18 years or older living in the United States.

Read the full report here.