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Mentalizing Deficits Constrain Belief in a Personal God

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  • Ara Norenzayan
  • Will M Gervais
  • Kali H Trzesniewski

Abstract

Religious believers intuitively conceptualize deities as intentional agents with mental states who anticipate and respond to human beliefs, desires and concerns. It follows that mentalizing deficits, associated with the autistic spectrum and also commonly found in men more than in women, may undermine this intuitive support and reduce belief in a personal God. Autistic adolescents expressed less belief in God than did matched neuro-typical controls (Study 1). In a Canadian student sample (Study 2), and two American national samples that controlled for demographic characteristics and other correlates of autism and religiosity (Study 3 and 4), the autism spectrum predicted reduced belief in God, and mentalizing mediated this relationship. Systemizing (Studies 2 and 3) and two personality dimensions related to religious belief, Conscientiousness and Agreeableness (Study 3), failed as mediators. Mentalizing also explained the robust and well-known, but theoretically debated, gender gap in religious belief wherein men show reduced religious belief (Studies 2–4).

Suggested Citation

  • Ara Norenzayan & Will M Gervais & Kali H Trzesniewski, 2012. "Mentalizing Deficits Constrain Belief in a Personal God," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(5), pages 1-8, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0036880
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0036880
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Joseph Henrich & Steve J. Heine & Ara Norenzayan, 2010. "The Weirdest People in the World?," RatSWD Working Papers 139, German Data Forum (RatSWD).
    2. Pascal Boyer, 2008. "Religion: Bound to believe?," Nature, Nature, vol. 455(7216), pages 1038-1039, October.
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    1. David L R Maij & Frenk van Harreveld & Will Gervais & Yann Schrag & Christine Mohr & Michiel van Elk, 2017. "Mentalizing skills do not differentiate believers from non-believers, but credibility enhancing displays do," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(8), pages 1-31, August.
    2. Anthony Ian Jack & Jared Parker Friedman & Richard Eleftherios Boyatzis & Scott Nolan Taylor, 2016. "Why Do You Believe in God? Relationships between Religious Belief, Analytic Thinking, Mentalizing and Moral Concern," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-21, March.
    3. Michaela Hiebler-Ragger & Johanna Falthansl-Scheinecker & Gerhard Birnhuber & Andreas Fink & Human Friedrich Unterrainer, 2016. "Facets of Spirituality Diminish the Positive Relationship between Insecure Attachment and Mood Pathology in Young Adults," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(6), pages 1-9, June.

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