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https://www.indy100.com/article/sci...elligent-religious-people-metanalysis-7733926
Atheists are more intelligent than religious people according to dozens of studies.
Miron Zuckerman, Jordan Silberman and Judith A. Hall from the University of Rochester and the Northeastern University conducted a meta-analysis (that's a statistical analysis that combines the results of multiple scientific studies) of 63 studies that showed a significant negative association between intelligence and religiosity.
The association was strongest among university students and weakest in teenagers and children.
It was also stronger for religious beliefs than religious behaviour. In effect, people who believe religious teachings as opposed to those practising religions.
Religiosity was defined as "the degree of involvement in some or all facets of religion." This included beliefs in supernatural agents and "costly commitments to these agents" such as offering of property as a sacrifice. Another 'facet' is participating in communal rituals, such as going to church, and "lower existential anxieties such as death due to a belief in supernatural agents" (i.e. being less scared of death because you believe you're going to heaven).
It's not entirely clear why non-religious people are more intelligent - but the difference varies with age
At University the divide is the strongest.
It may be because more intelligent students are more likely to embrace atheism as a form of non-conformity. University tends to expose people to new ideas and influences, students tend to lose their beliefs or get more religious during this time, according to the study. These changes are often as a result of "the self-exploration that typifies emerging adulthood and that is often observed in students" as "the separation from home and the exposure to a context that encourages questioning may allow intelligence to impact religious beliefs". The study adds that
Using analytic (as opposed to intuitive) thinking, more intelligent college students may be more likely to eschew religion. If atheism is disapproved of at home, higher intelligence may facilitate resistance to conformity pressure.
Whereas later in life, more intelligent people are more likely to get and stay married which makes them less reliant on the attachment that the function of religion provides. More intelligent people are also more likely to have higher level jobs and spend more time in school, which leads to higher self-esteem and "encourages control of personal beliefs" according to the study.
Ageing, however, is more likely to increase awareness of mortality
The research has been going on for almost 80 years and has measured association with individuals of all ages.
Religious beliefs can help manage the terror of one’s impending death
According to the study, there is no evidence pertaining to the relation between intelligence and death anxiety. Although this logic suggests that "the negative relation between intelligence and religiosity might decline at the end of life, the relevant evidence we have indicates otherwise."
The highly intelligent members of the sample retained lower religiosity scores, relative to the general population, even in their golden years (age 75 to 91).
Read the study in full here.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html
1. China
China has by far the highest percentage - and even then not quite half - of convinced atheists out of all the world's countries.
According to Win/Gallup, between 40 and 49.9 per cent of Chinese people identify as having no agnostic tendency when it comes to believing in a higher deity.
Communism, in which name the ruling party of China has governed since 1949, regards religion as a means of oppressing the proletariat, with religious movements suppressed under Mao Zedong throughout his 27 year reign until 1976.
One of the country's oldest philosophical worldviews, Confucianism, is also noteable for its lack of a belief in a supernatural deity.
2. Japan
China's neighbour is another of eastern nations with many people committed to a worldview without God in it.
Between 30 and 39 per cent of the people on the Japanese islands say they are "convinced atheists".
Religion in Japan has historically been centred around Shintoism, which is based on ritual and a mythology surrounding the ancient past of Japan, rather than an all-seeing god.
However, it remains spiritual in nature and could not be called atheistic. Yet Shintoism, like Buddhism in Japan, has seen a decline in followers in recent years.
3. Czech Republic
A perhaps surprise third contender for least religious countries in the world, the Czech Republic has some 30 to 39 per cent of citizens who classify as atheists.
The weak support for traditional church religion could be the legacy of strong Czech nationalism throughout the 19th and 20th century.
Catholicism was seen as an Austrian import and was discouraged by the state, with Protestantism never really managing to fill the gap, according to historians.
The country's communist past also suppressed the revival of any religion, spanning from 1948 to 1989.
4. France
The land of romance stands out from many of its European neighbours with at least one fifth of citizens saying they are "convinced atheists".
Similarly to China, France has a history of the state seeking to reduce the power of religious institutions within its borders.
The French Revolution in 1789 overthrew Roman Catholicism as the state religion and a law was brought in in 1905 to formally separate the church and the state.
In the UK, by contrast, the head of state is also the head of the Church - the Queen.
5. Australia
Some 10 to 19 per cent of Australians say they are "convinced atheists", perhaps unsurprisingly for a country with a strong tradition of secular government.
A legal framework guaranteed religious equality within a few decades of colonialists first arriving in 1788, deposing the privilege of the Church of England.
Many other religious peoples joined the trade opportunities in Australia, including both Muslims and Jewish people.
Today, however, the majority belief in Christianity is in steady decline and more citizens identify as having no god.
6. Iceland
Catholicism was outlawed in the northern European island in 1550, and religious freedom became a legal right in 1874.
Although many Icelanders consider themselves Lutheran, a small proportion follow folk religions, and the rest consider themselves "convinced atheists".
Atheists are more intelligent than religious people according to dozens of studies.
Miron Zuckerman, Jordan Silberman and Judith A. Hall from the University of Rochester and the Northeastern University conducted a meta-analysis (that's a statistical analysis that combines the results of multiple scientific studies) of 63 studies that showed a significant negative association between intelligence and religiosity.
The association was strongest among university students and weakest in teenagers and children.
It was also stronger for religious beliefs than religious behaviour. In effect, people who believe religious teachings as opposed to those practising religions.
Religiosity was defined as "the degree of involvement in some or all facets of religion." This included beliefs in supernatural agents and "costly commitments to these agents" such as offering of property as a sacrifice. Another 'facet' is participating in communal rituals, such as going to church, and "lower existential anxieties such as death due to a belief in supernatural agents" (i.e. being less scared of death because you believe you're going to heaven).
It's not entirely clear why non-religious people are more intelligent - but the difference varies with age
At University the divide is the strongest.
It may be because more intelligent students are more likely to embrace atheism as a form of non-conformity. University tends to expose people to new ideas and influences, students tend to lose their beliefs or get more religious during this time, according to the study. These changes are often as a result of "the self-exploration that typifies emerging adulthood and that is often observed in students" as "the separation from home and the exposure to a context that encourages questioning may allow intelligence to impact religious beliefs". The study adds that
Using analytic (as opposed to intuitive) thinking, more intelligent college students may be more likely to eschew religion. If atheism is disapproved of at home, higher intelligence may facilitate resistance to conformity pressure.
Whereas later in life, more intelligent people are more likely to get and stay married which makes them less reliant on the attachment that the function of religion provides. More intelligent people are also more likely to have higher level jobs and spend more time in school, which leads to higher self-esteem and "encourages control of personal beliefs" according to the study.
Ageing, however, is more likely to increase awareness of mortality
The research has been going on for almost 80 years and has measured association with individuals of all ages.
Religious beliefs can help manage the terror of one’s impending death
According to the study, there is no evidence pertaining to the relation between intelligence and death anxiety. Although this logic suggests that "the negative relation between intelligence and religiosity might decline at the end of life, the relevant evidence we have indicates otherwise."
The highly intelligent members of the sample retained lower religiosity scores, relative to the general population, even in their golden years (age 75 to 91).
Read the study in full here.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html
1. China
China has by far the highest percentage - and even then not quite half - of convinced atheists out of all the world's countries.
According to Win/Gallup, between 40 and 49.9 per cent of Chinese people identify as having no agnostic tendency when it comes to believing in a higher deity.
Communism, in which name the ruling party of China has governed since 1949, regards religion as a means of oppressing the proletariat, with religious movements suppressed under Mao Zedong throughout his 27 year reign until 1976.
One of the country's oldest philosophical worldviews, Confucianism, is also noteable for its lack of a belief in a supernatural deity.
2. Japan
China's neighbour is another of eastern nations with many people committed to a worldview without God in it.
Between 30 and 39 per cent of the people on the Japanese islands say they are "convinced atheists".
Religion in Japan has historically been centred around Shintoism, which is based on ritual and a mythology surrounding the ancient past of Japan, rather than an all-seeing god.
However, it remains spiritual in nature and could not be called atheistic. Yet Shintoism, like Buddhism in Japan, has seen a decline in followers in recent years.
3. Czech Republic
A perhaps surprise third contender for least religious countries in the world, the Czech Republic has some 30 to 39 per cent of citizens who classify as atheists.
The weak support for traditional church religion could be the legacy of strong Czech nationalism throughout the 19th and 20th century.
Catholicism was seen as an Austrian import and was discouraged by the state, with Protestantism never really managing to fill the gap, according to historians.
The country's communist past also suppressed the revival of any religion, spanning from 1948 to 1989.
4. France
The land of romance stands out from many of its European neighbours with at least one fifth of citizens saying they are "convinced atheists".
Similarly to China, France has a history of the state seeking to reduce the power of religious institutions within its borders.
The French Revolution in 1789 overthrew Roman Catholicism as the state religion and a law was brought in in 1905 to formally separate the church and the state.
In the UK, by contrast, the head of state is also the head of the Church - the Queen.
5. Australia
Some 10 to 19 per cent of Australians say they are "convinced atheists", perhaps unsurprisingly for a country with a strong tradition of secular government.
A legal framework guaranteed religious equality within a few decades of colonialists first arriving in 1788, deposing the privilege of the Church of England.
Many other religious peoples joined the trade opportunities in Australia, including both Muslims and Jewish people.
Today, however, the majority belief in Christianity is in steady decline and more citizens identify as having no god.
6. Iceland
Catholicism was outlawed in the northern European island in 1550, and religious freedom became a legal right in 1874.
Although many Icelanders consider themselves Lutheran, a small proportion follow folk religions, and the rest consider themselves "convinced atheists".
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