7/28/2019 Analytic Thinking Can Promote Atheism
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Analytic Thinking Can Promote AtheismBy Stephanie Pappas,
LiveScience Senior Writer | LiveScience.com Thu, Apr 26, 2012
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Deliberate analytical thinking can cause people to believe less
in God, according to a new study.
The researchers, who found that religious beliefarises from gut
feelings, were quick to say their study was not a
referendum on the value of religion. Both analytical thinking
and the intuitive processing that seems
topromote religious beliefsare important, said study researcher
Will Gervais.
"Both are useful tools," said Gervais, a doctoral candidate in
psychology at the University of British Columbia.
"Ultimately, these studies are looking at cognitive factors that
might influencebelief or disbelief, but they don't
have anything to say about the inherent rationality or worth of
religion."
Head versus heart
Psychologists have found that people process information through
two distinct systems. One is the analytical
system, marked by deliberate, logical processing. The intuitive
system, on the other hand, uses mental shortcuts
and gut feelings, Gervais said.
Earlier studies have shown that people who tend to go with their
gut aremore likely to believe in Godthan
analytical types are. Gervais and his UBC colleague Ara
Norenzayan reached the same finding by giving people
a test to determine whether they were more analytical or more
intuitive. For example, one question asked, "If it
takes five machines five minutes to make five widgets, how long
would it take 100 machines to make 100
widgets?"
The intuitive,go-with-your-gutanswer would be "100." But the
analytical, do-the-math process gets you the
correct answer of five minutes. People who came to the
analytical answer also reported less religious belief than
those who offered the intuitive response. [8 Ways Religion
Impacts Your Life]
Thinking analytically
But Gervais and Norenzayan also wanted to see if thinking style,
in addition to being associated with religious
belief, could actually cause changes in belief. In a series of
four studies, the researchers subtly influenced
participants to think more analytically. In one study,
participants looked at a photo of either Rodin's sculpture
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7/28/2019 Analytic Thinking Can Promote Atheism
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"The Thinker" or "Discobolus," a Greek sculpture of a man
throwing a discus. A pilot study had shown that
viewing only "The Thinker" made people more likely to think
analytically, while viewing the discus thrower did
not sway anyone one way or another.
In two other studies, participants played word games with either
neutral words such as "hammer" and "shoe" or
analytical words such as "think" and "reason." After these
priming activities, participants answered questions
about their religious beliefs.
In a final study, the participants simply answered the religion
questions on a questionnaire printed in either a
difficult-to-read font or an easy-to-read font. (Reading a
hard-to-decipher style of lettering is known to boost
analytical thinking.)
The surveys included statements that participants had to rate
based on their level of agreement or
disagreement, such as: "I believe in God"; "When I am in
trouble, I find myself wantingto ask God for help";
and "I just don't understand religion."
The studies involved more than 650 participants in the United
States and Canada. In every study, participants
who were prompted to think analytically were less likely to
reportreligious beliefs, such as believing in God,
than participants who saw neutral stimuli.
"The overall take-home message is that religious beliefs are
supported by a variety of intuition, but if you can
get people to engage in analytic thinking, that promotes
religious disbelief," Gervais said.
Other factors, including culture and social norms, also
influence religious belief and atheism, Gervais said. He
and his colleagues aren't sure how analytical thinking disrupts
faith-promoting intuition. It's possible that the
analytic thinking might interfere directly with intuitive
thoughts about life having a purpose or there being life
after death, for example. Or these intuitive beliefs could still
exist, but their cognitive link to religious belief
could be broken by analytical thoughts, Gervais suggested. Or it
might simply be that analytical thinking
triggers a conscious "override" in which people talk themselves
out of their beliefs.
"It's important to emphasize that everybody has these two
systems," Gervais added. "Everybody can think
intuitively and analytically, and it's not the case that the
intuitive system is always wrong and the analytical is
always right."
You can followLiveSciencesenior writer Stephanie Pappas on
[email protected] LiveScience for the
latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter@livescienceand
onFacebook.
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