The Experts below are selected from a list of 50691 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Ian Steedman - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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keeping faith losing faith Religious Belief and political economy
European Journal of The History of Economic Thought, 2010Co-Authors: Ian SteedmanAbstract:Bradley Bateman and H. Spencer Banzhaf (eds.), Keeping Faith, Losing Faith: Religious Belief and Political Economy. Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press, 2008. viii + 369 pp. ISBN 978-0-822...
Aiyana K Willard - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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testing theories of secularization and Religious Belief in the czech republic and slovakia
Evolution and Human Behavior, 2017Co-Authors: Aiyana K Willard, Lubomir CinglAbstract:Abstract Several theoretical approaches have been proposed to explain variation in religiosity, including versions of secularization hypotheses, evolved cognitive biases, and cultural transmission. In this paper we test several theories that aim to explain variation in religiosity and compare them in a representative sample collected in the Czech Republic and Slovakia (N=2022). These two countries represent a natural experiment in religiosity; despite their high level of historical, institutional and cultural similarity, their populations differ markedly in the rate of Religious Belief. We examine the predictive power of cognitive biases (anthropomorphism, dualism, teleology, mentalizing, and analytic thinking); institutional insecurity; and exposure to credibility displays of Belief in childhood on various factors of Religious Belief. We find that individual differences in cognitive biases predicted 8% of the variance Belief in God, but predicted 21% of the variance in paranormal Beliefs and almost no variance in Religious participation. Perceived institutional insecurity explains little variance in any of these variables, but cultural transmission, measured as exposure to credibility enhancing displays (CREDs) and church attendance in childhood, predicted 17% of the variance in Belief in God and 30% of Religious participation, and mediated 70% of the difference between these two countries in Belief in God and 80% of the difference in Religious practice. These findings suggest cognitive biases may explain the existence of Belief in the supernatural generally, but cultural transmission through credible Belief displays is a more plausible explanation for why people adopt and maintain a specific set of Religious Beliefs and practices.
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cognitive biases explain Religious Belief paranormal Belief and Belief in life s purpose
Cognition, 2013Co-Authors: Aiyana K Willard, Ara NorenzayanAbstract:Cognitive theories of religion have postulated several cognitive biases that predispose human minds towards Religious Belief. However, to date, these hypotheses have not been tested simultaneously and in relation to each other, using an individual difference approach. We used a path model to assess the extent to which several interacting cognitive tendencies, namely mentalizing, mind body dualism, teleological thinking, and anthropomorphism, as well as cultural exposure to religion, predict Belief in God, paranormal Beliefs and Belief in life’s purpose. Our model, based on two independent samples (N = 492 and N = 920) found that the previously known relationship between mentalizing and Belief is mediated by individual differences in dualism, and to a lesser extent by teleological thinking. Anthropomorphism was unrelated to Religious Belief, but was related to paranormal Belief. Cultural exposure to religion (mostly Christianity) was negatively related to anthropomorphism, and was unrelated to any of the other cognitive tendencies. These patterns were robust for both men and women, and across at least two ethnic identifications. The data were most consistent with a path model suggesting that mentalizing comes first, which leads to dualism and teleology, which in turn lead to Religious, paranormal, and life’s-purpose Beliefs. Alternative theoretical models were tested but did not find empirical support.
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the cultural transmission of faith why innate intuitions are necessary but insufficient to explain Religious Belief
Religion, 2011Co-Authors: Will M Gervais, Aiyana K Willard, Ara Norenzayan, Joseph HenrichAbstract:The cognitive science of religion integrates insights from diverse scientific disciplines to explain how people acquire, represent and transmit Religious concepts. This perspective has led to a fruitful research program on the naturalistic origins of religion. However, it has thus far not directly addressed a key component of religion: faith or committed Belief. The present review proposes a framework that integrates standard approaches from the cognitive science of religion with established models of cultural evolution and cultural learning. According to this synthetic approach, innate cognitive content biases explain how people mentally represent gods, and cultural evolutionary models explain why people come to believe and commit to the particular supernatural Beliefs that they do. This synthesis offers a more complete picture of the origins and cultural persistence of Religious Belief.
Joshua Rottman - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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born believers the science of children s Religious Belief
Religion brain and behavior, 2013Co-Authors: Joshua RottmanAbstract:Karl Marx famously painted a metaphorical picture of religion as an insidious opiate that is societally manufactured to manipulate the minds of the masses. Born Believers: The Science of Children's...
Kevin Leroy - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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justin l barrett born believers the science of children s Religious Belief
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 2013Co-Authors: Kevin LeroyAbstract:Born Believers: The Science of Children’s Beliefs ,b y Justin Barrett, explores the development of Religious Belief and argues that humans are predisposed to believe in ‘‘natural religion.’’ Barrett’s work could be considered a primer for the study of religion and human development for the academic or interested layman alike. Barrett’s thesis is not that humans are predisposed to believe one particular theology, but rather that holding a general Belief in a supernatural, nonhuman deity/deities is part of natural human development. Barrett divides his book into two parts. Part 1, ‘‘The Evidence,’’ lays out the social science research of children’s Religious Beliefs. Part 2, ‘‘The Implications,’’ builds upon the evidence presented in Part 1 to draw conclusions and identify understudied areas. Chapter one begins with a main theme of Born Believers, the concept of ‘‘agents.’’ Agents are entities that can move on their own, have purpose, and create order. While adults typically only view other humans and animals as agents, children have the tendency to see agents in places adults do not. For example, an infant would consider a robotic toy an agent. Furthermore, children develop the understanding that agents can act even when not seen, for example when a parent leaves the room to prepare a meal. These two elements lend themselves to Religious Belief. Deities are nonhuman agents that can act, even though they cannot be seen. Chapter two explores children’s propensity to find purpose in everyday objects. Children have a heightened teleological reasoning, reasoning about purpose or function, and desire to know ‘‘what things are for.’’ Because children tend to see their world as ordered, and only agents create order, children naturally believe that someone created the world around them. This reasoning does not extend just to objects, but to events as well. Events have purpose in life, even those events that are seemingly random. Children (and adults) strive to find out what is the purpose behind their life.
Ara Norenzayan - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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cognitive biases explain Religious Belief paranormal Belief and Belief in life s purpose
Cognition, 2013Co-Authors: Aiyana K Willard, Ara NorenzayanAbstract:Cognitive theories of religion have postulated several cognitive biases that predispose human minds towards Religious Belief. However, to date, these hypotheses have not been tested simultaneously and in relation to each other, using an individual difference approach. We used a path model to assess the extent to which several interacting cognitive tendencies, namely mentalizing, mind body dualism, teleological thinking, and anthropomorphism, as well as cultural exposure to religion, predict Belief in God, paranormal Beliefs and Belief in life’s purpose. Our model, based on two independent samples (N = 492 and N = 920) found that the previously known relationship between mentalizing and Belief is mediated by individual differences in dualism, and to a lesser extent by teleological thinking. Anthropomorphism was unrelated to Religious Belief, but was related to paranormal Belief. Cultural exposure to religion (mostly Christianity) was negatively related to anthropomorphism, and was unrelated to any of the other cognitive tendencies. These patterns were robust for both men and women, and across at least two ethnic identifications. The data were most consistent with a path model suggesting that mentalizing comes first, which leads to dualism and teleology, which in turn lead to Religious, paranormal, and life’s-purpose Beliefs. Alternative theoretical models were tested but did not find empirical support.
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the cultural transmission of faith why innate intuitions are necessary but insufficient to explain Religious Belief
Religion, 2011Co-Authors: Will M Gervais, Aiyana K Willard, Ara Norenzayan, Joseph HenrichAbstract:The cognitive science of religion integrates insights from diverse scientific disciplines to explain how people acquire, represent and transmit Religious concepts. This perspective has led to a fruitful research program on the naturalistic origins of religion. However, it has thus far not directly addressed a key component of religion: faith or committed Belief. The present review proposes a framework that integrates standard approaches from the cognitive science of religion with established models of cultural evolution and cultural learning. According to this synthetic approach, innate cognitive content biases explain how people mentally represent gods, and cultural evolutionary models explain why people come to believe and commit to the particular supernatural Beliefs that they do. This synthesis offers a more complete picture of the origins and cultural persistence of Religious Belief.
