Priming intuitive thinking temporarily raises belief in God.

Evidence

Participants who were more likely to overrule the intuitive answer were also less likely to believe in God. Shenhav and his colleagues were careful to consider other factors and ruled them out as potential counterexplanations. They showed that the lower levels of belief among the analytic thinkers were not because they had higher education levels, more general intelligence, different personality profiles, or higher income, or were older or younger, more liberal politically, or male. Analytic thinking even explained decreases in religious belief since childhood, suggesting that analytic thinkers tend to lose their religious fervor even if they were raised in a religious environment. Finally, in a subsequent study, participants were encouraged to think about a time when they had to make an important decision, and acted on intuition. In the analytic condition, they thought about a time when they had to make an important decision, and acted reflectively. Intuitive thinking, relative to reflective thinking, temporarily increased belief in God. Research by a team led by Gordon Pennycook found that religious skepticism and skepticism about paranormal phenomena were more prevalent among analytic thinkers, holding constant other potentially confounding factors. Going further, they showed that analytic thinkers, if they do endorse religious belief, show more unconventional and less fervent inclinations, such as the belief in a distant, nonintervening God (Deism), and the belief that the universe and God are identical (Pantheism). — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 602

Categorization

• XREF: Directly supports the reader’s frame that religious cognition is intuitive and effortful reflection erodes it.