Foxhole atheism, revisited: The effects of mortality salience on explicit and implicit religious belief

Jong, Jonathan; Halberstadt, Jamin; Bluemke, Matthias

doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2012.03.005

Cited by 132 publications

(141 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…For example, mortality salience may strengthen individuals' implicit soul and afterlife beliefs, as Jong et al . () found for supernatural entities. Obtaining further evidence demonstrating that mortality salience strengthens implicit religious beliefs, regardless of explicitly held beliefs, may help resolve some of the inconsistencies in the literature surrounding the effects of mortality salience on religious beliefs (e.g., Burling, ; Norenzayan, Dar‐Nimrod, Hansen, & Proulx, ; Osarchuk & Tatz, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…For example, participants' automatic associations of the soul with real rather than fake stimuli may reflect a general importance or positive valence ascribed to the soul rather than an underlying belief about its existence. Though implicit measures have been applied to a range of phenomena (e.g., Jong et al ., ; Nosek, ; Rudman & Mescher, ; Uhlmann et al ., ), it is important to examine exactly what such implicit measures are assessing and what implicit measures are capable of assessing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On the nature of implicit soul beliefs: When the past weighs more than the present

Anglin

2014

British J Social Psychol

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Intuitive childhood beliefs in dualism may lay the foundation for implicit soul and afterlife beliefs, which may diverge from explicit beliefs formed later in adulthood. Brief Implicit Association Tests were developed to investigate the relation of implicit soul and afterlife beliefs to childhood and current beliefs. Early but not current beliefs covaried with implicit beliefs. Results demonstrated greater discrepancies in current than in childhood soul and afterlife beliefs among religious groups, and no differences in implicit beliefs. These findings suggest that implicit soul and afterlife beliefs diverge from current self-reported beliefs, stemming instead from childhood beliefs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the nature of implicit soul beliefs: When the past weighs more than the present

Anglin

2014

British J Social Psychol

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“…Nonetheless, as belief in supernatural agents is central to religiosity, links between religiosity and risk-sensitivity are likely related to representations of supernatural support. Consistent with this, faith has been linked with propensities for aggression on behalf of in-groups (Kruglanski, Chen, Dechesne, Fishman, & Orehek, 2009;Sosis, Phillips, & Alcorta, 2012) and is negatively associated with fear of death (Jong, Bluemke, & Halberstadt, 2013), suggesting that religiosity lessens perceived risk in contexts of interpersonal threat. Subliminal primes of religious concepts (e.g., "divine") similarly enhance costly punishment of others' unfair behavior in economic games (McKay, Efferson, Whitehouse, & Fehr, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

With God on our side: Religious primes reduce the envisioned physical formidability of a menacing adversary

2016

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The imagined support of benevolent supernatural agents attenuates anxiety and risk perception. Here, we extend these findings to judgments of the threat posed by a potentially violent adversary. Conceptual representations of bodily size and strength summarize factors that determine the relative threat posed by foes. The proximity of allies moderates the envisioned physical formidability of adversaries, suggesting that cues of access to supernatural allies will reduce the envisioned physical formidability of a threatening target. Across two studies, subtle cues of both supernatural and earthly social support reduced the envisioned physical formidability of a violent criminal. These manipulations had no effect on the perceived likelihood of encountering non-conflictual physical danger, raising the possibility that imagined supernatural support leads participants to view themselves not as shielded from encountering perilous situations, but as protected should perils arise.

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“…The reasoning is that the ill and the very old are confronted with their mortality. Thus, the religious promise of an afterlife may offer some comfort (Jong, Halberstadt, and Bluemke ). Research repeatedly found people with declining health to become more religious over time (Jong, Halberstadt, and Bluemke ; McFarland et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religious Identification, Switching, and Apostasy Among Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland: Individual and Cohort Dynamics Between Two Censuses 2001–2011

Doebler

Shuttleworth

2018

Scientific Study of Religion

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Religious identification has historically been salient in Northern Ireland as an ethnic‐national identity marker. Thirteen years after the Good Friday Agreement that marked the start of the peace process in the country, the question arises whether religious affiliation in Northern Ireland has become less of an ethnonational identity marker and more of a personal choice. This article analyzes religious switching and apostasy between 2001 and 2011, using data from the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study, a representative sample of approximately 28 percent of the population, linked to the 2001 and 2011 censuses. We found that the vast majority retained their self‐reported religious affiliation, a tiny minority switched between Protestantism and Catholicism, and a significant minority, particularly among the young, switched to “none/not stated” or between Protestant denominations. Religious switching is associated with young age, higher education, and also socioeconomic deprivation. Experiences of social frustration appear to drive many to leave their faith.

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Foxhole atheism, revisited: The effects of mortality salience on explicit and implicit religious belief

Cited by 132 publications

References 34 publications

On the nature of implicit soul beliefs: When the past weighs more than the present

On the nature of implicit soul beliefs: When the past weighs more than the present

With God on our side: Religious primes reduce the envisioned physical formidability of a menacing adversary

Religious Identification, Switching, and Apostasy Among Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland: Individual and Cohort Dynamics Between Two Censuses 2001–2011

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