But last year saw research\u00a0on the island of Mauritius<\/a>, wich\u00a0 found that people are more likely\u00a0to be fair and trusting in a if they are seated in a religious location \u2013 regardless of their own personal religion.We also learned that, in Burkino Faso, traditional beliefs encourage trust and fair-play<\/a> in the small-business community.<\/p>\n In Singapore, both Buddhists and Christians are homophobic\u00a0<\/a>\u2013 suggesting that the link between religion and homophobia is more to do with cultural conservatism than any specific religious ideology.And in both Iran and the USA, religious people have similar personalities<\/a>: higher in Honesty-Humility, and lower in openness. <\/p>\n Even non-western gods that ostensibly don\u2019t care about moral issues<\/a> still seem to have an opinion on them when you ask the right questions of believers \u2013 although admittedly not to the obsessive levels of the monotheistic gods. So religion may still have pro-social effects even if the gods aren\u2019t explicit about it.<\/p>\n On the psychological biases that lead to religion, we learned that objects that are \u2018minimally counterintuitive\u2019 are more memorable<\/a> in both East and West. Children also find minimally counterintuitive stories more memorable<\/a>. And both children and adults think that religion occupies a place halfway between facts and opinion<\/a>.<\/p>\n Intelligent kids are less likely to be religious in later life<\/a>, and critical thinking also may explain why countries with higher average IQ have fewer religious people.<\/p>\n Paranormal believers are more likely to believe they can see human figures in random moving dots<\/a> \u2013 more evidence that they are a bit hyperactive at \u2018agency detection\u2019. But even atheists sometimes see a purpose behind random life events<\/a> \u2013 although with less conviction than believers.<\/p>\n Spirituality is highest in people who have hallucinations<\/a> \u2013 but only if they are generally happy in the first place (presumably, happy people put a positive spin on hallucinations). So what environment is conducive to seeing a ghost<\/a>, rather than having a religious experience?\u00a0Ghosts are\u00a0more often seen when the environment was secluded, dark, quiet, and threatening. Those who had seen ghosts also reported being anxious or upset at the time.<\/p>\n Single women are less religious when they were most fertile<\/a>, while women in a relationship were more religious.<\/p>\n Another trend for 2013 was the increasing interest in studying atheism in its own right.\u00a0 While one study found that atheists lack empathy and understanding<\/a>, another found that atheists get stressed when daring God<\/a> to do terrible things. Atheists tend to prefer video games over board games<\/a> \u2013 perhaps due to lack of social imagination or perhaps simply reflecting their social preferences.<\/p>\n The non-religious are good tippers<\/a> in restaurants. But are more likely to tell self-serving white lies<\/a>.<\/p>\n Faith seems to be a personality trait with broad application. People who have faith in God also have faith in doctors<\/a>. Faith as a response to stress isn\u2019t limited just to religion. We learned that sportsmen(in this case, Oxford Rowers) increase their confidence in scientific truths<\/a> as race day approaches.Interestingly, priming with scientific concepts<\/a> can change people\u2019s moral attitudes.<\/p>\n Religious people, meanwhile, punish those who who are trusting towards strangers<\/a> and share with them their donuts. They also insist that rules must be followed<\/a> \u2013 even if that results in unfair outcomes. And there was more evidence that their god is their friend: devout prayer uses the same bits of the brain as talking<\/a> to a loved on.<\/p>\n While religion doesn\u2019t seem to protect people from depression<\/a> after all, painful, extreme rituals seem to make people more willing to donate<\/a> to religious institutions.<\/p>\n The attitudes of of Protestant (but not Catholic) Christians<\/a> can be manipulated subliminally by showing them different images of their god. People reminded of religion become less tolerant of ambiguity<\/a> \u2013 perhaps hinting at why religion and conservative attitudes are often found together. <\/p>\n While Dutch Calvinists are prepared to wait for a larger reward<\/a>, Catholics are more likely to take the money and run. Well, that\u2019s your lot! If it whet your appetite, try the overview of 2012<\/a>, 2011<\/a>, 2010<\/a>, or 2009<\/a>.<\/p>\n So here\u2019s to 2014 and another year for Epiphenom! The coming year will see some changes for the blog \u2013 there are more great studies than ever, and so to cover them I\u2019m going to start doing a few digest post \u2013 covering several studies but in less depth. So let\u2019s see how that goes!<\/p>\n Well folks, another year wrapped up. That\u2019s the sixth New Year that this blog has seen in \u2013 so thanks to everyone who still keeps coming back to read it! Here\u2019s a wrap up of this year. One of the highlights for me was the trend towards research conducted outside of the USA and Europe. […]<\/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-22","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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And on the sociological level, nations that share a religion \u2013 either on an institutional level or at the network level \u2013 have significantly greater trade<\/a>, even after accounting for the other effects (like language). Countries with a state religion also have fewer political and civil freedoms<\/a><\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/span> 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":"