Analytic atheism: Valuing epistemic rationality strengthens the association between analytic thinking and religious disbelief

Tomas Ståhl*, Jan Willem van Prooijen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

Analytic thinking has been put forth as one of the processes through which people may become atheists. According to this view, people who are more (vs. less) analytically inclined should be more likely to reject the existence of deities because they rely less on the various intuitive cognitive processes that support supernatural beliefs. Consistent with this “analytic atheism” hypothesis, studies have found a negative association between analytic thinking and religious belief. In the present article we expand on this literature and argue that analytic thinking should be more strongly associated with religious disbelief when coupled with motivation to be epistemically rational. Consistent with this hypothesis, we show that the association between analytic thinking and weaker religious faith (Study 1), as well as between analytic thinking and disbelief (vs. belief) in God, and related supernatural phenomena (Study 2–3) is stronger among people who ascribe more (vs. less) value to epistemic rationality.

Original languageEnglish
Article number110914
Pages (from-to)1-9
Number of pages9
JournalPersonality and Individual Differences
Volume179
Early online date14 Apr 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Some of the research reported in this article (Study 3) was supported by a grant awarded to the first author by the Understanding Unbelief Programme, University of Kent, UK. We would like to thank Will Gervais, Sarah Schiavone, and Maxine Najle for allowing us to include their data (Study 2) in the present article, and Alex Demos for assistance with statistical analyses.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd

Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Funding

Some of the research reported in this article (Study 3) was supported by a grant awarded to the first author by the Understanding Unbelief Programme, University of Kent, UK. We would like to thank Will Gervais, Sarah Schiavone, and Maxine Najle for allowing us to include their data (Study 2) in the present article, and Alex Demos for assistance with statistical analyses.

Keywords

  • Analytic atheism
  • Analytic cognitive style
  • Epistemic rationality
  • Importance of rationality
  • Moralized rationality
  • Religiosity
  • Religious disbelief

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