Habitual analytic thinking produces and deepens religious doubt

Evidence

This line of thinking leads to a number of interesting predictions: First, that people who are habitual intuitive thinkers should be more religious and, conversely, that habitual analytic thinkers should be the skeptical ones who doubt religion. Second, encouraging people to think intuitively should make them more religious, and thinking analytically should lead to a temporary spike in religious doubt. Third, any long-term habits or experiences that cultivate analytic thinking also should encourage religious doubt. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 599

Categorization

Category: Causal Relationships

• SEED: A testable article angle: do analytic-culture institutions (universities, STEM fields) systematically erode religious commitment through chronic System 2 engagement?

Related

• Intuitive thinkers should be more religious and analytic thinkers more doubtful (similarity 0.92)
• Universities undermine religious belief by inculcating analytic thinking (similarity 0.87)
• Religious disbelief is linked to a stable analytic cognitive style. (similarity 0.86)
• Priming intuitive thinking temporarily raises belief in God. (similarity 0.85)
• Analytic thinking style independently predicts lower religious belief. (similarity 0.85)
• Inducing a merely analytic thinking style lowers stated belief in God. (similarity 0.84)
• Religious disbelief correlates with analytic thinking independent of education, intelligence, or demographics (similarity 0.84)
• Deliberative System 2 thinking introduces doubt and can override religious intuitions (similarity 0.82)
• Cognitive disfluency reduces religious belief across all conviction levels (similarity 0.79)
• Religious belief stems from both intuitive cognition and cultural transmission mechanisms. (similarity 0.79)
• Atheism lacks the intuitive support that religious belief enjoys. (similarity 0.79)
• Priming analytical thinking via a statue causes an immediate religious belief dip. (similarity 0.79)
• Religious belief persists through multiple independent sustaining mechanisms (similarity 0.78)