Atheism

Question 1

6 branches of atheism

Answer 1

1. Agnosticism
2. Humanism
3. Naturalism
4. Secularism
5. Transhumanism
6. Materialism

Question 2

Humanism definition (Hobson and Jennings)

Answer 2

Those who reject the supernatural views of Christianity and concentrate on searching for seasoned answers to issues in their lives.

Question 3

The Brights

Answer 3

A Bright is a person who has a naturalistic worldview
A Bright’s worldview is free of supernatural and mystical elements
The ethics and actions of a bright are based on a naturalistic worldview

Question 4

Problems with demographics in atheism studies (Zuckerman, 2007)

Answer 4

Census surveys might ‘under-report’ prevalence.

Methodological problems
* Low response rates
* Non-random samples
* Adverse political / cultural climates

Question 5

Census (2001)

Answer 5

15% not religious

Question 6

Census (2011)

Answer 6

25% non-religious

Question 7

Census (2021)

Answer 7

37.2% not religious

Question 8

BBC (2004)

Answer 8

44% not religious

Question 9

Norris and Ingleheart (2003)

Answer 9

39% not religious

Question 10

Bruce (2002)

Answer 10

21% not religious, 8% atheist, 10% agnostic

Question 11

Greenley (2003)

Answer 11

31% not religious, 10% atheist

Question 12

Froese (2001)

Answer 12

32% schist or agnostic

Question 13

Hayes (2000)

Answer 13

34% atheist or agnostic

Question 14

ARIS (2008)

Answer 14

15% not religious

Question 15

Gervais et al (2018)

Answer 15

26% atheist or agnostic

Question 16

The religious “nones” (Vernon, 1968)

Answer 16

• Reject membership in formal religion
• May have mystical experiences
• Are ethical and moral
• There are subcategories

Question 17

Religious independents (Hayes, 2000)

Answer 17

• Less likely to hold religious conviction than affiliates
• Male, non-married, young, highly educated

Question 18

Jagodzinksi and Greenley (nd)

Answer 18

Hardcore atheists are more likely to be male

Question 19

A psychological profile of atheism (Beit-Hallahmi)

Answer 19

• Male
• Intellectual orientation
• Distant relations to parents
• Avoidant attachment style
• Liberal and tolerant
• No clear evidence of deficits in mental health
• No clear evidence of immorality and crime

Question 20

Exploring Atheist Personality (Caldwell-Harris et al, 2011)

Answer 20

• No difference to Buddhist’s and Christians on measures of well-being and empathy.
• Differed on magical ideation and spirituality.
• But Atheists experience awe and joy in the presence of “nature”, “art/music” and “human cooperation”.

Question 21

Gervais et al (2011)

Answer 21

Distrust is central to anti-atheist prejudice

Question 22

J.Brown-Januzzi et al (2018)

Answer 22

Mental images of theists are associated with more positive attributes

Question 23

The psychology of non-believers (Uzarevice and Coleman III, 2021)

Answer 23

Not just a lack of belief.

Accompanied by scientific and liberal worldviews (at least in the West)

Analytical and open-minded disposition

Positive aspects of ideological thinking; Well-being

Negative aspects: outgroup prejudice

Both highly religious and highly non-religious people report high wellbeing

Question 24

Explanations of Atheism

Answer 24

• Naturalness of Religion and Unnaturalness of Science (McCauley, 2000)
• Barrett (2004): Atheism thrives under certain, narrow environmental conditions (only really industrial societies).
• Saler and Ziegler (2006): Atheism and the Apotheosis (the process of becoming a God) of Agency

Question 25

Origin of Disbelief ((Norenzayan and Gervais, 2011)

Answer 25

4 types:
1. Mind-blind
2. Apatheism
3. InCREDulous atheism
4. Analytic atheism

Question 26

Mind-blind atheism

Answer 26

Generated to lack of theory of mind

Question 27

Apatheism

Answer 27

certain environmental circumstances, no religious enforcement

Question 28

InCREDulous atheism

Answer 28

people not receiving cultural inputs that encourage the belief that any god(s) are potent or relevant

Question 29

Analytic atheism

Answer 29

over reliance on type 2 processing, over-riding acceptance of religious beliefs

Question 30

Rosenkranz (2009)

Answer 30

Measures in how far an individual agrees with an atheistic or theistic worldview.

It can discriminate between atheists, agnostics, mild and strong religious believers – a low score means an Atheist and a high score means a theist.

Question 31

Two types of Theory of Mind

Answer 31

• Empathising (EQ): the drive to identify another person’s emotions and thoughts and to respond to these with an appropriate emotions
• Systemising (SQ): the drive to analyse the variables in a system, to derive the underlying rules that govern the behaviour of a system

Question 32

Existentialism and Theory of Mind

Answer 32

Low existentialism predicts systemising theory of mind

Question 33

Gender differences and Theory of Mind Types

Answer 33

Female brain has higher empathising theory of mind than systemising theory of mind. Male brain has the inverse

Question 34

Empathising Theory of Mind (EQ)

Answer 34

The drive to identify another person’s emotions and thoughts and to respond to these with an appropriate emotions

Question 35

Systemising Theory of Mind

Answer 35

The drive to analyse the variables in a system, to derive the underlying rules that govern the behaviour of a system

Question 36

Norenzayan, Gervais and Trzesniweski (2012)

Answer 36

1. Positive correlation between autism and belief in God
2. Positive Correlation between gender and belief in God
3. Positive correction between empathy and belief in God