Intelligent en toch gelovig #27

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A meta-analysis of 63 studies showed a significant negative association between intelligence and religiosity. The association was stronger for college students and the general population than for participants younger than college age; it was also stronger for religious beliefs than religious pbehavior. For college students and the general population, means of weighted and unweighted correlations between intelligence and the strength of religious beliefs ranged from -.20 to -.25 mean r=-.24). Three possible interpretations were discussed. First, intelligent people are less likely to conform and, thus, are more likely to resist religious dogma. Second, intelligent people tend to adopt an analytic (as opposed to intuitive) thinking style, which has been shown to undermine religious beliefs. Third, several functions of religiosity, including compensatory control, self-regulation, self-enhancement, and secure attachment, are also conferred by intelligence. intelligent people may therefore have less need for religious beliefs and practices.

_{Miron Zuckerman, Jordan Silberman and Judith A. Hall The Relation Between Intelligence and Religiosity: A Meta-Analysis and Some Proposed Explanations}

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The present study examined whether IQ relates systematically to denomination and income within the framework of the g nexus, using representative data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY97). Atheists score 1.95 IQ points higher than Agnostics, 3.82 points higher than Liberal persuasions, and 5.89 IQ points higher than Dogmatic persuasions. Denominations differ significantly in IQ and income. Religiosity declines between ages 12 to 17. It is suggested that IQ makes an individual likely to gravitate toward a denomination and level of achievement that best fit his or hers particular level of cognitive complexity. Ontogenetically speaking this means that contemporary denominations are rank ordered by largely hereditary variations in brain efficiency (i.e. IQ). In terms of evolution, modern Atheists are reacting rationally to cognitive and emotional challenges, whereas Liberals and, in particular Dogmatics, still rely on ancient, pre-rational, supernatural and wishful thinking.

_{Helmuth Nyborg, The intelligence-religiosity nexus: A representative study of white adolescent Americans, Intelligence, Volume 37, Issue 1, January-February 2009, Pages 81-93.}

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We study the effect of intelligence (General Mental Ability) on religiosity using research designs that allow for stronger causal inferences compared to previous research in this area. First, we examine how between-siblings differences in intelligence are related to differences in their religiosity. Second, we examine how intelligence is related to changes in religiosity over time. The results of both designs suggest that intelligence has a strong negative effect on religiosity. In addition, our results also suggest that intelligence interacts with age in determining religiosity: the more intelligent the person, the stronger the negative effect of age on religiosity.

_{Yoav Ganzach, Chemi Gotlibovski, Intelligence and religiosity: Within families and over time, Intelligence, Volume 41, Issue 5, September-October 2013, Pages 546-552}

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High levels of religiosity have been linked to lower levels of intelligence in a number of recent studies. These results have generated both controversy and theoretical interest. Here in a large sample of US adults we address several issues that restricted the generalizability of these previous results. We measured six dimensions of religiosity (rather than just one or two), along with a multi-scale instrument to assess general intelligence. We also controlled for the influence of the personality trait openness on facets of religious belief and practice. The results indicated that lower intelligence is most strongly associated with higher levels of fundamentalism, but also modestly predicts central components of religiosity such as a sense of religious identification and private religious practice. Secondly, we found that a higher level of openness - often assumed to lead to lower religiosity - is weakly associated with reduced fundamentalism but with increased religious mindfulness, private religious practice, religious support, and spirituality. These new results provide a framework for understanding the links between reasoning and faith.

_{Gary J. Lewis, Stuart J. Ritchie, Timothy C. Bates, The relationship between intelligence and multiple domains of religious belief: Evidence from a large adult US sample, Intelligence, Volume 39, Issue 6, November-December 2011, Pages 468-472}

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Evidence is reviewed pointing to a negative relationship between intelligence and religious belief in the United States and Europe. It is shown that intelligence measured as psychometric g is negatively related to religious belief. We also examine whether this negative relationship between intelligence and religious belief is present between nations. We find that in a sample of 137 countries the correlation between national IQ and disbelief in God is 0.60.

_{Richard Lynn, John Harvey, Helmuth Nyborg, Average intelligence predicts atheism rates across 137 nations, Intelligence, Volume 37, Issue 1, January-February 2009, Pages 11-15}