Brett Mercier, Stephanie Kramer and Azim Shariff have a new paper out in Current Directions in Psychological Science that succinctly reviews the psychology literature on why people believe in God–and why some people don’t.
The paper is available here (free preprint), and the abstract is pasted below:
Belief in a god or gods is a central feature in the lives of billions of people and a topic of perennial interest within psychology. However, research over the past half decade has achieved a new level of understanding regarding both the ultimate and proximate causes of belief in God. Ultimate causes—the evolutionary influences on a trait—shed light on the adaptive value of belief in God and the reasons why a tendency toward this belief exists in humans. Proximate causes—the immediate influences on the expression of a trait—explain variation and changes in belief. We review this research and discuss remaining barriers to a fuller understanding of belief in God.
Hello Azim,
I just heard you speak on NPRs Hidden Brain. As a (marine) biologist, I was fascinated to hear your ideas about natural selection and religion. I have never understood humanity’s need for religion, but when you put it in terms of selection it makes a lot more sense.
I would very much like a copy of your review paper on this subject, but as I am retired, the journals charge of $35.00 is a little steep. Would it be possible for you to send me a pdf? I would very much appreciate it.
thank you,
Sarah
Hi there, I also just heard you on Hidden Brain and would love to read this article but I am unemployed right now. Is there a way I can read this article? Thanks so much.
Hi Jordan – sorry I didn’t see this earlier. I don’t often check the comments here. Here’s a free version of the paper: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Azim-Shariff/publication/321887719_The_Belief_in_God_Why_People_Believe_and_Why_They_Don%27t/links/5a50597e458515e7b72ba03a/The-Belief-in-God-Why-People-Believe-and-Why-They-Dont.pdf