Religious belief strongly predicts distrust of atheists

Evidence

It is possible that it is not religious prosociality, per se, that causes distrust of atheists, but rather a general process by which low-warmth (or perhaps low-warmth and high-competence) groups are distrusted. If this is the case, then untrustworthiness should be viewed as representative of any outgroup seen as competent but not warm. On the other hand, our model predicts that untrustworthiness should be viewed as more representative of atheists than of other groups—even groups viewed as comparably competent and comparably lacking in warmth. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 289 (#expands, via linked claim)

This possibility is not a counterexplanation to the account I presented here. In fact, it complements it rather nicely because, even if atheists are believed to share one’s social norms, one might nonetheless be doubtful of the atheist’s commitment to uphold those norms given that atheists do not think they are being watched by gods. The perceived belief in supernatural monitoring, and the threat of supernatural punishment that comes with monitoring, may ensure the belief that a person of faith adheres to prosocial norms, but this motivation is seen to be lacking in an atheist. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 296 (#expands, via linked claim)

At this point, you the reader might be wondering, what about the United States, which is characterized with both high levels of rule of law but also high levels of atheist distrust? Interestingly, the United States is an outlier. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, 39 percent percent of Americans strongly agree or agree that politicians who do not believe in God are unfit for public office. This high number is lower than other highly religious but much poorer countries such as Pakistan (95 percent), but comparable to its very religious southern neighbor Mexico (39 percent). In America’s northern neighbor and close cultural cousin Canada, this distrust is much less pronounced (21 percent). But Canada’s atheist distrust is higher than comparably developed nations with high human development and strong rule of law, but much less religious, such as the UK (11 percent), Denmark (8 percent), and Sweden (4 percent), where distrust of atheists is virtually nonexistent. Why is it that the United States has levels of atheist distrust that are so out of step with other wealthy advanced democracies? This is a complex issue, but there is at least one answer to this puzzle that has to do with two oddities about the United States: for interesting reasons, America, despite being an economic powerhouse, has anomalously high religiosity levels, and we have seen that religiosity is the single most important determinant of atheist distrust. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 306 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Strong secular institutions reduce believers’ need to distrust atheists — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 307; Anti-atheist prejudice stems from trust concerns, not xenophobia or outgroup dislike; Atheists are intuitively distrusted as much as convicted rapists (+6 more)

Related

• American atheist distrust stems from anomalous high religiosity (similarity 0.91)
• Atheists generally do not distrust religious believers (similarity 0.91)
• Atheists are intuitively distrusted as much as convicted rapists (similarity 0.90)
• Distrust of atheists exceeds what warmth and competence stereotypes alone predict (similarity 0.89)
• American distrust of atheists significantly exceeds that of comparable wealthy democracies. (similarity 0.89)
• Nonbelievers show mild trust toward believers while believers trust only their own (similarity 0.86)
• Strong secular institutions reduce believers’ need to distrust atheists (similarity 0.85)
• Rule of law specifically dampens atheist distrust, not general trust (similarity 0.85)
• Atheists are distrusted as norm-wildcards whose beliefs cannot be inferred (similarity 0.84)
• Anti-atheist prejudice stems from trust concerns, not xenophobia or outgroup dislike (similarity 0.84)
• Supernatural monitoring beliefs drive atheist distrust even without ingroup membership (similarity 0.84)
• Antipathy toward atheists stems from religious distrust, not general dislike (similarity 0.84)
• Perceived lack of supernatural accountability marks atheists as specifically untrustworthy (similarity 0.83)
• Religiosity does not moderate fear of atheists the way it moderates racial views (similarity 0.83)
• Believers distrust atheists because they doubt atheists feel watched by God. (similarity 0.83)

Broader Connections

• Distrust of atheists exceeds what warmth and competence stereotypes alone predict #expands (0.85) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 289
• American atheist distrust stems from anomalous high religiosity #expands (0.80) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 306
• Supernatural monitoring beliefs drive atheist distrust even without ingroup membership #expands (0.80) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 296
• Atheists generally do not distrust religious believers #contradicts (0.70)