Conflict Changes How People View God. (March 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Caluori, Nava; Jackson, Joshua Conrad; Gray, Kurt; Gelfand, Michele
• Is Part Of: Psychological science. Volume 31:Number 3(2020)
• Page Start: 280
• Page End: 292
• Publication Date: 2020-03
• Subjects: religion -- belief -- conflict -- cultural evolution -- cross-cultural -- open data -- preregistered; Psychology -- Periodicals; 150.5
• DOI: 10.1177/0956797619895286
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0956-7976

Abstract

Religion shapes the nature of intergroup conflict, but conflict may also shape religion. Here, we report four multimethod studies that reveal the impact of conflict on religious belief: The threat of warfare and intergroup tensions increase the psychological need for order and obedience to rules, which leads people to view God as more punitive. Studies 1 ( N = 372) and 2 ( N = 911) showed that people's concern about conflict correlates with belief in a punitive God. Study 3 ( N = 1, 065) found that experimentally increasing the salience of conflict increases people's perceptions of the importance of a punitive God, and this effect is mediated by people's support for a tightly regulated society. Study 4 showed that the severity of warfare predicted and preceded worldwide fluctuations in punitive-God belief between 1800 CE and 2000 CE. Our findings illustrate how conflict can change the nature of religious belief and add to a growing literature showing how cultural ecologies shape psychology.