“…Over 85% of the 63 studies included in the analysis showed a negative correlation between the two measures, and the overall random-effects meta-analytic correlation between religiosity and intelligence was r = − .24. Zuckerman et al (2013) discussed a number of possible explanations for this correlation, ranging from the lower propensity of high-IQ individuals to conform to religious dogma, to the possibility that religion acts to support attributes that higher intelligence may itself confer on other individuals, such as self-enhancement and self-control. Importantly for the present study, the majority (73%) of the studies in the meta-analysis examined religiosity and intelligence in university students or even younger samples, and only two studies – Blanchard-Fields, Hertzog, Stein, and Pak (2001), who studied a sample ranging from 23 to 86 years, and McCullough, Enders, Brion, and Jain (2005), who used longitudinal data following a sample aged 24–40 in 1940 across over 50 years – included some individuals who were in later life.…”