The God of Big (And Good) Things: Religious Priming, Event Properties, and Supernatural Explanations

IF 1.7 2区 哲学 Q2 PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY
J. Ramsay, Zhi Yin Khong, Joey S. E. Yeo
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引用次数: 1

Abstract

ABSTRACT Humans have a pervasive tendency to make causal attributions when attempting to explain life events. While causality is often attributed to naturalistic forces, such as the agency of individuals or situational factors, many individuals – particularly those who hold religious or spiritual beliefs – invoke supernatural explanations that ascribe causation to invisible forces or agents such as God(s), fate, or karma. The present research sought to clarify conflicting findings regarding the types of events that tend to elicit supernatural explanations, and to investigate whether reminders of religion exerts a causal effect on these tendencies using priming methodologies. Over two studies (N = 119; N = 121), we observed a consistently greater tendency to invoke supernatural explanations of various kinds when event outcomes were serious and positive. A significant influence of religious priming was observed only for one type of supernatural explanation in Study 1, while inconsistent interactions between valence and seriousness were also observed. These findings are consistent with the notions of “God-of-the-gaps” and God-serving attributional biases, although evidence for a causal influence of reminders of religion on these processes remains inconclusive.
大(好)事物之神:宗教启动、事件属性和超自然解释
摘要人类在试图解释生活事件时,普遍倾向于进行因果归因。虽然因果关系通常被归因于自然力量,如个人的能动性或情境因素,但许多个人——尤其是那些持有宗教或精神信仰的人——援引超自然的解释,将因果关系归因于无形的力量或能动性,如上帝、命运或因果报应。本研究试图澄清关于倾向于引发超自然解释的事件类型的相互矛盾的发现,并使用启动方法调查宗教提醒是否对这些趋势产生因果影响。在两项研究中(N=119;N=121),我们观察到,当事件结果是严重和积极的时,人们总是更倾向于援引各种超自然解释。在研究1中,仅对一种类型的超自然解释观察到宗教引发的显著影响,同时也观察到效价和严重性之间不一致的相互作用。这些发现与“缺口之神”和上帝服务的归因偏见的概念一致,尽管宗教提醒对这些过程的因果影响的证据仍然没有定论。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
4.20
自引率
4.50%
发文量
15
期刊介绍: The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion (IJPR) is devoted to psychological studies of religious processes and phenomena in all religious traditions. This journal provides a means for sustained discussion of psychologically relevant issues that can be examined empirically and concern religion in the most general sense. It presents articles covering a variety of important topics, such as the social psychology of religion, religious development, conversion, religious experience, religion and social attitudes and behavior, religion and mental health, and psychoanalytic and other theoretical interpretations of religion. The journal publishes research reports, brief research reports, commentaries on relevant topical issues, book reviews, and statements addressing articles published in previous issues. The journal may also include a major essay and commentaries, perspective papers of the theory, and articles on the psychology of religion in a specific country.
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