{"id":118,"date":"2012-02-27T22:15:00","date_gmt":"2012-02-27T21:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2012\/02\/can-a-pill-take-away-the-desire-for-religion.html"},"modified":"2014-11-12T03:41:07","modified_gmt":"2014-11-12T02:41:07","slug":"can-a-pill-take-away-desire-for-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2012\/02\/can-a-pill-take-away-desire-for-religion.html","title":{"rendered":"Can a pill take away the desire for religion?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Well yes it can \u2013 in a manner of speaking.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s study is one that was actually published in 2010, and has been languishing in my files. I just rediscovered it!<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one of a trio from Aaron Kay and colleagues, at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. They\u2019ve published a few studies before on how the need to feel in control of situations can drive a heightened sense of religiosity (e.g. here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a> and here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

This study took an unusual approach. First they gave their subjects (37 undergraduates) a \u2018herbal. pill. They told them that they were going to take part in an experiment to learn the effects of this pill on colour perception. Of course, the pill was just a placebo and the experiment had nothing to do with colour perception.<\/p>\n

And then they hold half their subjects that the pill had an unfortunate side effect \u2013 it would cause some \u201cmild arousal or anxiety\u201d.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>
Next they put their subjects through some pen and paper exercises (while they waited for the pill to \u2018metabolize\u2019). Half\u00a0 the subjects were given a word game that implanted in their mind ideas related to randomness, by featuring words like \u201cchance\u201d and \u201crandom\u201d. The other half got negativity words \u2013 stuff like \u201cpoorly\u201d and slimy\u201d.<\/p>\n

Now, the idea of this is that priming thoughts of randomness should heighten the subjects\u2019 religiosity. And so it did.<\/p>\n

As you can see in the graphic, if they weren\u2019t told that the pill caused anxiety, then priming with thoughts of randomness significantly increased belief in a controlling god.<\/p>\n

However, if they were told that the pill would make them feel anxious, then the effect disappeared.<\/p>\n

What Kay thinks is happening is that the randomness prime makes his subjects feel anxious, and they restore their sense of well being by affirming a belief in a controlling god, thereby dealing with the stress of randomness.<\/p>\n

But the subjects who were told the pill caused anxiety had a rationale explanation for the stress they were feeling (or so they thought). Because they could explain it, they didn\u2019t need to turn to belief in a controlling god.<\/p>\n

So there you go. A pill can reduce religiousness \u2013 so long as it\u2019s a pill that you think will cause anxiety (but doesn\u2019t really)!<\/p>\n

\n

\"ResearchBlogging.org\"<\/a><\/span>
Kay, A., Moscovitch, D., & Laurin, K. (2010). Randomness, Attributions of Arousal, and Belief in God Psychological Science, 21<\/span> (2), 216-218 DOI: 10.1177\/0956797609357750<\/a><\/span>\"Creative<\/a> This article by Tom Rees<\/b> was first published on Epiphenom<\/a>. It is licensed under Creative Commons<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well yes it can \u2013 in a manner of speaking. Today\u2019s study is one that was actually published in 2010, and has been languishing in my files. I just rediscovered it! It\u2019s one of a trio from Aaron Kay and colleagues, at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. They\u2019ve published a few studies before on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2091,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nCan a pill take away the desire for religion?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Well yes it can - in a manner of speaking.Today's study is one that was actually published in 2010, and has been languishing in my files. 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