Perceived atheist prevalence directly reduces anti-atheist prejudice across nations and experiments

Evidence

Gervais found converging evidence to support this prediction. First, across nations, anti-atheist prejudice among believers was reduced where atheists are more numerous, even after controlling for important individual and international differences, such as conservatism, human development, and individualism. Second, in a Canadian university sample, anti-atheist prejudice was reduced among believers who thought that atheists were more common, and this was the case especially among the most deeply religious participants. Last, it was found that experimentally induced reminders of how common atheists are statistically eliminated anti-atheist prejudice. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 312

Gervais found converging evidence to support this prediction. First, across nations, anti-atheist prejudice among believers was reduced where atheists are more numerous, even after controlling for important individual and international differences, such as conservatism, human development, and individualism. Second, in a Canadian university sample, anti-atheist prejudice was reduced among believers who thought that atheists were more common, and this was the case especially among the most deeply religious participants. Last, it was found that experimentally induced reminders of how common atheists are statistically eliminated anti-atheist prejudice. These reminders did not affect perceptions of contact with atheists or other prejudice toward other groups. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 312

Categorization

• SEED: A tested lever for reducing outgroup distrust — perceived prevalence alone, even without contact — could anchor an essay on visibility as a trust mechanism.
• XREF: Directly relevant to the reader’s project: the fumi-e forces public, observable apostasy — but if prevalence signaling reduces distrust, then conspicuousness of a minority works both ways depending on who controls the visibility signal. — connects to: Belief-centered religions generate more prejudice against atheists than practice-centered ones; Anti-atheist prejudice stems from trust concerns, not xenophobia or outgroup dislike; Anti-atheist exclusion rises when trust matters critically in a role (+3 more)
• QUESTION: If mere statistical reminders kill prejudice, then visibility campaigns (Gay Pride style coming out) work through a purely cognitive prevalence-updating mechanism — worth chasing how this squares with Norenzayan’s broader reliance on partner-choice signalling.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 312