Optimism as an adaptive outcome of religiosity

Abstract

Previous research has found that in conditions of high inequality, individuals appear to express higher levels of religious engagement. However, areas where there is high inequality often also have high levels of deprivation, making it unclear as to whether it is inequality or deprivation that drives the positive association between inequality and religiosity. The original aims of this thesis were to investigate the relationship between religiosity and inequality in the hope of gaining insight into the nature of the relationship between economic variables and religiosity, and to investigate why inequality or deprivation would increase religiosity. The first study conducted for this thesis used two waves of the Religious Landscape Survey conducted by the Pew Research Centre combined with economic information to investigate relationships between income, state-level affluence, state-level inequality and religiosity in the USA. Two hierarchical linear models, each containing over 35k US citizens, indicated that state wealth and state inequality were both associated with religiosity. The second study conducted for this thesis had several aims and so, for clarity is referred to in the thesis proper as study 2a and study 2b which are split across chapters 5 and 6. The first aim which is explored in chapter 5 as study 2a, was to test a newly developed scale designed to measure the extent to which individuals believe in the existence of a universal causal force which is both purposeful and intentional, a trait which is referred to in this thesis as transcendent teleological thinking (TTT). It is argued in this thesis that TTT represents the cognitive core of religious and spiritual thinking, and measuring this trait may offer insights into the evolution of religion. The second aim of this study, explored in chapter 6 and referred to in the thesis proper as study 2b, was to take a closer look at the psychological responses to economic inequality and deprivation. The aim of this study was to see how economic variables influence subjective feelings of financial strain, feelings of deprivation and to investigate whether these variables are associated with increases in behavioural religiosity, and TTT. study 2b did not find compelling evidence that economic variables or experience of financial strain and deprivation were strongly associated with levels of behavioural religiosity or TTT. However, study 2b also included a measure of well-being, and closer analysis of the results revealed positive associations between optimism and behavioural religiosity, and a positive association between optimism and TTT. The results of study 2b prompted a change of course, resulting in a shift away from inequality as a predictor of religiosity and towards optimism as a possible outcome of religiosity. The third study, presented in chapter 9, was designed to take a more deliberate look at the relationship between TTT and optimism. This study found a significant positive relationship between TTT and optimism, and this association was not explained by social support or religious attendance. The fourth study presented in chapter 10 of this thesis was a survey experiment designed to look at whether TTT may have a causal relationship with optimism. In this study, participants answered questions on the TTT measure or answered questions taken from the systemising quotient (SQ). After exposure to one of these two measures, participants answered questions to assess their levels of state and trait optimism. The results of this experiment found that participants in the TTT condition had significantly higher levels of state optimism than individuals in the SQ condition, indicating that TTT can increase optimism. This thesis offers several unique contributions to the scientific study of religion. Firstly, it presents evidence that TTT is at the core of religious and spiritual thinking and that measuring this specific trait may offer more insight into religious cognition than the often-used measures included in surveys like the ones conducted by Pew, the European Social Survey and the General Social Survey. This thesis also argues that measuring TTT is a good cross-culturally applicable measure of cognitive religiosity that has the potential to offer increased insight into patterns of religious cognition in a range of cultures and belief systems. Finally, this thesis also presents initial evidence that the adaptive value of religion is in its potential to increase levels of optimism among the religious.