The Relation Between Intelligence and Religiosity

Abstract

A meta-analysis of 63 studies showed a significant negative association between intelligence and religiosity. The association was stronger for college students and the general population than for participants younger than college age; it was also stronger for religious beliefs than religious behavior. For college students and the general population, means of weighted and unweighted correlations between intelligence and the strength of religious beliefs ranged from -.20 to -.25 (mean r = -.24). Three possible interpretations were discussed. First, intelligent people are less likely to conform and, thus, are more likely to resist religious dogma. Second, intelligent people tend to adopt an analytic (as opposed to intuitive) thinking style, which has been shown to undermine religious beliefs. Third, several functions of religiosity, including compensatory control, self-regulation, self-enhancement, and secure attachment, are also conferred by intelligence. Intelligent people may therefore have less need for religious beliefs and practices.

Religiosity is negatively associated with later-life intelligence, but not with age-related cognitive decline

“…Power analysis indicated that, with our valid sample size of 339 at age 83, we had 99% power to detect effect sizes similar to that found in the Zuckerman et al (2013) meta-analysis ( r  = (−).24), and 80% power to detect effects of r  = (−).15. Where measures only from age 79 were used, our sample sizes were somewhat larger.…”

“…Religiosity, measured by how often individuals attend religious ceremonies or by questionnaires assessing religious belief, has been consistently negatively associated with cognitive ability (Zuckerman, Silberman, & Hall, 2013). That is, individuals who are more religious tend to have lower intelligence, albeit by only a small degree.…”

“…Evidence for the negative relation of religiosity to cognitive ability comes from a variety of studies, recently meta-analyzed by Zuckerman et al (2013). 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.…”

“…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.…”

The person-based nature of prejudice: Individual difference predictors of intergroup negativity

“…Taken together, individuals with lower cognitive abilities and higher NFC are more likely to embrace right-wing social-cultural ideologies such as authoritarianism, social-cultural conservatism, and religiosity. Meta-analytic studies have confirmed positive associations (r) ranging between .20 and .40 for NFC with right-wing attitudes (Jost et al, 2003;Van Hiel & Crowson, in press), a negative association of −.30 for cognitive ability (IQ) with authoritarianism (Onraet et al, 2015), and a negative association of −.24 between IQ and religiosity (Zuckerman, Silberman, & Hall, 2013).…”