2011
DOI: 10.1177/1069397111402465
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A Cross-National Test of the Uncertainty Hypothesis of Religious Belief

Abstract: According to the uncertainty hypothesis, religion helps people cope psychologically with dangerous or unpredictable situations. Conversely, with greater control over the external environment due to economic development and technological advances, religious belief is predicted to decline (the existential security hypothesis). The author predicts that religious belief would decline in economically developed countries where there is greater existential security, including income security (income equality and redi… Show more

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Cited by 79 publications
(73 citation statements)
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References 33 publications
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“…Results thus confirm the uncertainty hypothesis for Gallup religiosity data, thereby replicating Barber's (2011) results using disbelief in God as a dependent variable (see Tables 1 and 2) and supporting earlier research (Gill & Lundsgaarde, 2004;Hollinger, Haller, & Valle-Hollinger, 2007;Norris & Inglehart, 2004;Paul, 2005Paul, , 2009Rees, 2009;Zuckerman, 2007Zuckerman, , 2008 . Results show that the religiosity of a country is predicted by economic development, by favorable health conditions, and by a more equal distribution of income as well as a well-developed welfare state (insofar as this is measured by high levels of personal taxation relative to GDP).…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 83%
See 1 more Smart Citation
“…Results thus confirm the uncertainty hypothesis for Gallup religiosity data, thereby replicating Barber's (2011) results using disbelief in God as a dependent variable (see Tables 1 and 2) and supporting earlier research (Gill & Lundsgaarde, 2004;Hollinger, Haller, & Valle-Hollinger, 2007;Norris & Inglehart, 2004;Paul, 2005Paul, , 2009Rees, 2009;Zuckerman, 2007Zuckerman, , 2008 . Results show that the religiosity of a country is predicted by economic development, by favorable health conditions, and by a more equal distribution of income as well as a well-developed welfare state (insofar as this is measured by high levels of personal taxation relative to GDP).…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 83%
“…The following predictions were tested see (Barber, 2011, for rationale underlying these predictions): 4. That societies having an extensive welfare state would be less religious.…”
Section: Specific Predictionsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…They rated people in 98 societies on a collectivist-individualist scale, finding that a high threat of disease goes with collectivist attitudes, controlling for wealth and urbanization. Again similarly, biopsychologist Nigel Barber finds that religion helps people cope with dangerous situations; while religious belief declines as economic development brings greater economic security and health (Barber, 2011). These findings echo the predictions of evolutionary modernization theory.…”
Section: Converging Evidence Of the Importance Of Existential Securitymentioning
confidence: 76%
“…Another major environmental factor appears to be existential security, since societies must often respond to threats in a collective fashion. According to McKelvey (1982, p. 186), "Environmental threat more than anything else seems to be accompanied by organizations having tight and extensive control systems" (see Norris & Inglehart, 2004and Barber, 2011 for more on existential security, which can include parasite stress, as an important axis of environmental variation for religiosity). Notice that these two environmental factors are different from each other: a society can be tight in an existentially secure environment because of the coordination required to regulate food production, or it can be tight in an existentially threatening environment because of the coordination needed to surmount the threat.…”
Section: Parasite Stressmentioning
confidence: 98%