A scientist looked at 63 studies to conclude atheists are more intelligent than religious people

[n2doc]

Miron Zuckerman, Jordan Silberman and Judith A. Hall from the University of Rochester and the Northeastern University conducted a meta-analysis (that's a statistical analysis that combines the results of multiple scientific studies) of 63 studies that showed a significant negative association between intelligence and religiosity.

The association was strongest among university students and weakest in teenagers and children.

It was also stronger for religious beliefs than religious behaviour. In effect, people who believe religious teachings as opposed to those practising religions.

Religiosity was defined as "the degree of involvement in some or all facets of religion." This included beliefs in supernatural agents and "costly commitments to these agents" such as offering of property as a sacrifice. Another 'facet' is participating in communal rituals, such as going to church, and "lower existential anxieties such as death due to a belief in supernatural agents" (i.e. being less scared of death because you believe you're going to heaven).

more
https://www.indy100.com/article/scientist-looked-through-63-studies-conclude-atheists-more-intelligent-religious-people-metanalysis-7733926

Well, Duh!

[Binkie The Clown]

1. I was going to post "Well duh" but you beat me to it. n/t

[Cattledog]

2. Of course!

[Nitram]

3. "participating in communal rituals?"

Like smoking dope and listening to music? Like attending an all-night rave? Like posting on a political blog?

[Nitram]

4. The conclusion is unscientific because virtually all traditional cultures believe in

supernatural agents. We know that intelligence pretty much follows a bell curve in every population regardless of the culture's religious beliefs. By definition.

[Volstagg]

5. Of course the intelligence of a population follows the bell curve.

How does that impact the OP? The OP indicates that more people that are atheist will be at the top of the curve. By definition, a subset of a population that follows the bell curve does not, itself, need to follow the bell curve.

[Nitram]

6. My point is that an entire population can be religious by the standards of this study, but

that doesn't mean the entire population has below-average intelligence.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. It's an association, not a claim that anyone religious must be below-average intelligence

If it did study a culture in which everyone counted as 'religious', then that culture wouldn't be able show any association, positive or negative (and wouldn't be evidence against such an association, either).

[Volstagg]

9. So where is that population that is 100% religious?

And if it was a sub-population of a larger whole, then that whole population could be below-average.

I'm not sure what problem you have with the meta-analysis that was done in this study. There is a positive correlation between intelligence and atheism. Doesn't say which causes the other, just that the correlation is there.

[Nitram]

10. Bali, Darahmsala, parts of West Africa (where I've lived), tibet before the Chinese invasion.

The idea of entire sub-population being below average, unless it was a very, very small population, is unscientific.

As for the meta-analysis, it has the same problem that all generalizations about IQ have: cultural bias in the test itself. The study uses the same rationale that William Shockley did in 1965 to claim that the sub-population of African-Americans as a group had lower intelligence than whites.

[NeoGreen]

7. The Abstract...

...
http://emilkirkegaard.dk/en/wp-content/uploads/The-Relation-Between-Intelligence-and-Religiosity-A-Meta-Analysis-and-Some-Proposed-Explanations.pdf

Abstract
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 behavior. 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.

and a paragraph on Limitations:

Limitations
The available data did not allow adequate consideration of the role of religion type and of culture. As mentioned herein before, the articles included in the meta-analysis did not provide enough information to code religion type as a potential moderator. There was also not enough information to consider the role of culture in the intelligence–religiosity association. Of the 41 studies in the college and no-college groups (the populations on which we base most of our conclusions), 33 were conducted in the United States; the remainder were conducted in Canada (3), Australia (2), Belgium and Holland (1 each); finally, one study was conducted in several countries but primarily (87% of participants) in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Clearly, the present results are limited to Western societies.

Worth repeating: ...showed a significant negative association between intelligence and religiosity.

[Brainstormy]

11. Thank you for fucks sake.