Knowing God
Religious Belief and Social Trust in the "Semi-Acquaintance Society": Evidence From China
Licheng Xu & Wenxuan Li
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, forthcoming
Abstract:
The relationship between religious belief and social trust, often positively correlated in the Western context, presents a distinct puzzle within China's unique social landscape. Against the backdrop of China's ongoing transition into a "semi-acquaintance society," this study introduces the concept of "trust in communities," based on Anthony Giddens' typology of "trust in persons" and "trust in systems." Utilizing nationally representative survey data, this article empirically examines the effect of religious belief on social trust. Contrary to evidence from the Western context, our findings suggest a significantly lower level of generalized social trust among religious individuals in China compared to their nonreligious counterparts -- a disparity that is most pronounced among Christians and those reporting the highest level of piety. Furthermore, the impact of religious belief is highly nuanced, varying across trust dimensions: Buddhists demonstrate a higher level of "trust in persons," Muslims exhibit stronger "trust in communities," and Catholics place greater trust in expert systems. These empirical findings suggest that religiosity in China does not simply compensate for the erosion of traditional trust but rather fosters a complex, belief-specific pattern of trust distribution.
Conservative politics is more strongly associated with skepticism about science than is conservative religion -- and both restrain enthusiasm more than they encourage negativity
Karyn Vilbig & Paul DiMaggio
Social Forces, forthcoming
Abstract:
Research on Americans' attitudes toward science shows that both theologically conservative religious views and political conservatism are associated with negative views of science and scientists. In their efforts to understand the relationship between conservatism and science attitudes, however, authors have often prioritized one type of conservatism -- either religious or political -- rather than exploring the unique role of each. This paper examines the relative weight of religious versus political conservatism as they relate to a variety of attitudes toward science. Using an original nationally representative survey and data from the Pew American Trends Panel, we show that outright hostility toward science is relatively rare, though it is associated with both theological conservatism and political conservatism. Political conservatism is more strongly associated with science attitudes than religious conservatism, a finding that holds across several measures of attitudes toward science, scientists, and science policies and is robust to the inclusion of measures of Christian nationalism. Moreover, these relationships are not limited to contentious scientific fields such as evolution and epidemics, but are also observable in areas of science that have not been seen as widely controversial. Finally, political and religious conservatism are more strongly associated with blunted enthusiasm for -- rather than an outright rejection of -- science and scientists
Assessing the effect of increased analytic thinking on religious beliefs
Luz Acera Martini & Estban Freidin
Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, forthcoming
Abstract:
Why do some people believe in God while others do not? Some authors suggest that this variation partly stems from differences in individuals' tendencies to engage in reflective thinking. Previous experimental research has proposed that activating analytic thinking may undermine religious belief by inhibiting intuitive processes. However, evidence supporting this claim remains elusive, as replication attempts have yielded mixed findings. This study aimed to examine the effect of analytic priming on religious beliefs, using a tested effective technique to activate cognitive reflection in our target population. We also explored several variables that might moderate the effect of priming on religious belief. We conducted two studies. In Study 1, we assessed two analytic priming techniques -- the Scrambled Sentence Task and the Debiasing Training Task -- and found that only the latter effectively increased cognitive reflection as measured by the Cognitive Reflection Test. In a preregistered, well-powered Study 2 (N = 938), we employed the Debiasing Training Task to assess its effect on religious beliefs. We found no evidence that the activation of cognitive reflection influenced participants' self-reported religiosity relative to controls. Equivalence tests suggest that any potential effect was negligible. Moderation analyses also revealed no significant influence of individual differences in need for cognition, perceptions of reflection-religion compatibility, or metacognitive ambiguity of religious beliefs. These findings provide evidence against the hypothesis that analytic priming reduces religiosity. We discuss these findings in the context of the relationship between cognitive style (analytic vs. intuitive) and religious belief.
Religiosity and Depression among LGB Adolescents
Alex Weng
University of North Carolina Working Paper, April 2026
Abstract:
Religion is often associated with improved mental health, but its effect on LGB individuals remains unclear, given the potential for restricted or unfriendly environments within churches towards homosexuality. This paper studies the causal effect of religiosity on depression among LGB adolescents. Utilizing peer religiosity as an instrumental variable, I find religiosity offers additional protection against depression among LGB individuals compared to heterosexuals.
The US Religious Public and Radical Human Enhancements
John Evans
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, forthcoming
Abstract:
A radical enhancement to the human body or brain is defined as giving human capabilities that no past or present human has possessed. These are being developed by scientists and bioengineers and backed by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. This article reports on the first study of the US religious public's views of radical enhancements using a nationally representative survey. Church-attending conservative Protestants are more opposed to enhancement -- and atheists/agnostics are more supportive -- than are the religiously indifferent. These differences are fully explained by three secular ideologies previous studies have found to be important in studies of biotechnology. Additionally, restricting analysis to variation among Christians, theological beliefs about the role of humans in the natural world that cross traditions also explain differences in support and opposition. However, among Christians it is secular ideologies, not theological beliefs or religious identities, that explain support or opposition to radical enhancement.
Trust in Cultural Institutions and Interfirm Cooperation: Evidence from Religious Scandals
Quentin Dupont & Kayla Freeman
Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, forthcoming
Abstract:
We study how trust in cultural institutions affects cooperation between firms, employing local religious scandals for identification. We focus on trade credit as a trust-intensive aspect of supply chain relationships. In a triple-difference estimation, we find that firms located in scandal areas where the affected religion is prominent reduce trade credit to customers (relative to sales) by 5 percentage points. Consistent with the scandal damaging local norms of cooperation, results are stronger in relationships with limited history, greater geographic barriers, or transaction complexity. Our findings offer novel causal evidence of the influence of local culture on interfirm relationships.
When superstition outperforms truth: Belief transmission, sacrifice, and cooperation under environmental uncertainty
Aidin Hajikhameneh
Evolution and Human Behavior, May 2026
Abstract:
We report results from an intergenerational experiment investigating how prosocial beliefs, whether accurate or false, emerge, spread, and support cooperation under environmental uncertainty (N=448, university students). In a repeated public goods game with randomly determined but ambiguously framed payoff shocks, participants often formed superstitious beliefs linking generosity to rewards. Compared to accurate beliefs, these superstitious beliefs, when transmitted to the next generation and internalized, led to greater cooperation and facilitated group formation via voluntary sacrifice. Individuals who held such beliefs were more likely to sacrifice and self-organize into high-functioning groups, achieving the highest levels of public good provision. These findings illustrate how culturally transmitted beliefs, even when empirically false, can stabilize cooperation by shaping shared expectations and enabling costly commitment.
God mostly forgives cruel intentions: How U.S. Christians perceive divine forgiveness
Madhulika Shastry et al.
Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, forthcoming
Abstract:
Interpersonal forgiveness significantly impacts well-being and relationships, but divine forgiveness in Christianity -- how individuals perceive forgiveness from God -- remains underexplored, despite its cultural and psychological importance. This research examined whether perceptions of God as unconditionally loving or morally concerned explain the causes and consequences of perceptions of divine and interpersonal forgiveness. Across four preregistered studies (N ? 2,000 U.S. Christians), participants evaluated scenarios of moral offenses or recalled personal transgressions. Participants rated divine and interpersonal forgiveness expectations (Studies 1-2) or introspection and growth intentions (Studies 3-4). We manipulated offender motives (good vs. bad), motive disclosure, and forgiver type (God vs. person). Analyses included multilevel models, regressions, and path analyses. In Studies 1-2, participants expected greater divine than interpersonal forgiveness. For others' offenses, God was seen as both unconditionally loving and morally concerned, sensitive to motives and disclosure. For their own offenses, participants perceived God as primarily unconditionally loving. In Study 3, participants expected others forgiven by God to introspect less but show more behavior change when motives were immoral. In Study 4, participants reported less motivation to improve after divine than interpersonal forgiveness when recalling their own immoral offenses. U.S. Christians see God as both loving and morally concerned for others but mostly as unconditionally loving for themselves. These mixed views explain how people judge others and their own actions before and after receiving forgiveness. Our findings echo Alexander Pope's truth: to err is human; to forgive -- mostly unconditionally -- is divine.
Redshifted civilizations, galactic empires, and the Fermi paradox
Chris Reiss & Justin Feng
Acta Astronautica, September 2026, Pages 114-128
Abstract:
Given the vast distances between stars in the Milky Way and the long timescales required for interstellar travel, we consider how a civilization might overcome the constraints arising from finite lifespans and the speed of light without invoking exotic or novel physics. We consider several scenarios in which a civilization can migrate to a time-dilated frame within the scope of classical general relativity and without incurring a biologically intolerable level of acceleration. Remarkably, the power requirements are lower than one might expect; biologically tolerable orbits near the photon radius of Sgr A* can be maintained by a civilization well below the Type II threshold, and a single Type II civilization can establish a galaxy-spanning civilization with a time dilation factor of 10^4, enabling trips spanning the diameter of the Milky Way within a human lifetime in the civilizational reference frame. We also find that isotropic, monochromatic signals from orbits near the photon radius of a black hole exhibit a downward frequency drift. The vulnerability of ultrarelativistic vessels to destruction, combined with the relatively short timescales on which adversarial civilizations can arise, provides a strong motivating element for the "dark forest" hypothesis.