Psychology of Religion

Question 1

What is the relationship between TMT and psychology of religion? (Jamil)

Answer 1

Norenzayan et al. (2009)
1. MS vs Control
 - Religious vs nonreligious
2. Asked students to read passage about Jamil, muslim student critiquing faithlessness of Western culture
3. Indicate liking of Jamil (endorsement of his worldview)
FOUND:
Control: N-R > R in endorsement
MS: Religious > N-R in endorsement

Non-R: Showed worldview defence, as Jamil challenges their worldview
Religious: Showed less worldview defense.
- Westerners: conflicted: no real endorse/rejection after MS prime

Question 2

How is our perception of religion biased?

Answer 2

We think about religion through the main 5 religions: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism. Religion is more general than we think it is
E.g. Not necessarily concerning cause, nature and purpose of universe, or having superhuman agency/ies.

Question 3

What are the four components of Norenzayan and Atran’s definition of religion?

Answer 3

1. Counterintuition: All religions include belief in supernatural agents (goes against how we believe the world to work)
2. Commitment: People act on their religious beliefs. Behav coming with faith - not natural. (explained by Dissonance Theory: Behav affects thoughts/beliefs)
3. Compassion: People describe having relationships with their gods. Fulfils their need to belong. Transcendence of deity: existence beyond normal/physical level.
4. Communion: Religions as team sports - occurring with other believers in social envr. Satisfies need to belong, not just people acting with their solitary beliefs.

Question 4

What is a typical religion composed of?

Answer 4

God/supernatural agent is: (kind of lousy)

• Not very powerful (almost a special person)
• Not much privileged access to info
• Not morally concerned
• Locally constrained (e.g. God of mountain, etc.)

Question 5

What is a non-typical religion composed of?

Answer 5

God(s) tend to be very powerful.
- Omnipotent: can do everything
- Omniscient: Knows everything
- Cares a lot about people
- Are morally concerned: more than just about sacrifices
- Omnipresent
Yet: This is what we think of as religion.

Question 6

How do the big religions compare to the little ones?

Answer 6

Big religions: minority of religions
- Started showing up 12,000 years ago in agricultural revolution. Maybe everyone started to stay in same place and formed social groups
- Are the most successful religions
Small religions: Tend to die off quickly

Question 7

What are the relevant questions about religion? (6)

Answer 7

Definition
Typicality
Origin - General, specific
Function
Popularity
Effects/correlates - utility, morality

Question 8

What does Shariff and Norenzayan’s (2007) game theory game experiment reveal about religion’s effect on prosocial and antisocial behaviour?

Answer 8

Looked at whether belief in God changed people’s behaviour
1. Subliminal prime: rearrange sentences
- God: felt she eradicate spirit the
- Control: dessert divine was fork the
2. Game Theory Game: Given $10, allowed to take as much of it as they wanted and the rest would be given to another participant
FOUND:
- Control: kept >50%.
- God concept prime: Most shared equally with stranger (and 1 gave all away)
Religion –> more generous/prosocial

Question 9

What does Shariff and Norenzayan’s (2011) cheating experiment reveal about religion’s effect on prosocial and antisocial behaviour?

Answer 9

Kind/mean God
1. Gave “view on God” scale - Positive vs negative views
2. Tedious math test - press space NOT to get answer. How much did people cheat?
FOUND:
- Kind God –> More cheating, less moral
- Mean God –> Less cheating, more moral
Religion can determine how pro/antisocial someone can be

Question 10

Does religiosity matter? What does Saslow et al.’s (2013) study conclude about this?

Answer 10

Measured participants’:
- Prosocial behaviour (volunteering time, charity donation, allowing stranger to go ahead in line)
- Trait compassion
- Religious identity
FOUND: Compassion was a stronger predictor of prosocial behaviour than religiosity. So no, religiosity doesn’t matter

Question 11

How does evolutionary psychology attempt to explain the universal response to Athiests?

Answer 11

Disgust over distrust - ELABORATE

Question 12

What are the pros of having religion in society?

Answer 12

Greater religiosity in society associated with:

• greater social self esteem
• greater psychological adjustment (to stress?)

Question 13

What are the cons of having religion in society?

Answer 13

Greater religiousness in society associated with:

• higher ingroup and lower outgroup bonds –> higher prejudice/discrim
• lower compatibility of values –> higher prejudice/discrim