Religious People View Both Science and Religion as Less Epistemically Valuable Than Non-Religious People View Science

Abstract

Religion and science are two major sources of knowledge. Some accounts suggest that religious belief inhibits people from trusting scientific information, and encourages conflict between religion and science. We draw from theories of human motivation to challenge this claim, instead suggesting that religious people perceive less conflict between science and religion than non-religious people, that religious—but not non-religious—people use both science and religion when they explain phenomena, and that religious people rely on science more than non-religious people think they do. Five studies support our account. A pilot study uses a large representative sample of Americans to show that religious people perceive less conflict between science and religion than non-religious people. Studies 1-2 show that religious people view religion and science as equally and moderately instrumental for explaining extraordinary events (Study 1) and life’s “big questions” (Study 2), whereas non-religious people view science as highly instrumental and religion as not at all so. Study 3 finds that non-religious people mischaracterize religious people as more reliant on religion and less reliant on science than they really are, and also suggests that religious people view science and religion as orthogonal whereas non-religious people view them as hydraulic. Study 4 applies these findings to the COVID-19 pandemic, showing that faith-based strategies of avoiding infection do not inhibit adoption of science-based strategies. Religious people may be more open to science than many non-religious people think.

Longtime Nemeses or Cordial Allies? How Individuals Mentally Relate Science and Religion

“…Further, as mentioned before, other research has shown that religious individuals are more likely to see compatibility between science and religion M. S. Evans, 2012;Falade & Bauer, 2018;Jackson et al, 2020a;Mackey et al, 2023;Vaidyanathan et al, 2016). Non-religious individuals, by contrast, are more likely to hold a "conflict" view Funk & Alper, 2015;Marin & Lindeman, 2021), and they tend to underestimate religious individuals' openness to science (Jackson et al, 2020;Study 6).…”

“…Scholars have attempted to test whether religious beliefs (or a lack thereof) are responsible for people's tendency to subscribe to the "conflict" view. This notion is based on the finding that, on the one hand, nonreligious individuals are more inclined to regard science as the only effective means of achieving instrumental goals, contributing to their stronger endorsement of the "conflict" view, and that, on the other hand, religious individuals are more likely to perceive science and religion as equally instrumental (i.e., the instrumentality hypothesis, Jackson et al, 2020aJackson et al, , 2020b. A line of evidence, indeed, substantiates this notion by revealing that religious individuals tend to view scientific and religious explanations as equally instrumental, while nonreligious individuals rely solely on scientific explanations (Jackson et al, MENTAL CONCEPTUALIZATION OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION 2020a, Study 3; see also Funk & Alper, 2015).…”

Longtime nemeses or cordial allies? How individuals mentally relate science and religion.

“…Furthermore, as mentioned previously, other research has shown that religious individuals are more likely to see compatibility between science and religion Evans, 2012;Falade & Bauer, 2018;Jackson et al, 2020a;Mackey et al, 2023;Vaidyanathan et al, 2016). In contrast, nonreligious individuals are more likely to hold a "conflict" view Funk & Alper, 2015;Marin & Lindeman, 2021), and they tend to underestimate religious individuals' openness to science (Jackson et al, 2020a;Study 6). Furthermore, recent studies suggest that religious exclusivism (rather than religiosity alone; see Lee, 2022) and antireligious attitudes (Francis et al, 2019b) have independently contributed to a stronger endorsement of the "conflict" view.…”

“…However, not all studies have found a consistent correlation between religiosity and negative attitudes toward science, as evidenced by a cross-cultural study (McPhetres et al, 2021). Furthermore, as mentioned previously, other research has shown that religious individuals are more likely to see compatibility between science and religion Evans, 2012;Falade & Bauer, 2018;Jackson et al, 2020a;Mackey et al, 2023;Vaidyanathan et al, 2016). In contrast, nonreligious individuals are more likely to hold a "conflict" view Funk & Alper, 2015;Marin & Lindeman, 2021), and they tend to underestimate religious individuals' openness to science (Jackson et al, 2020a;Study 6).…”

“…Scholars have attempted to test whether religious beliefs (or a lack thereof) are responsible for people’s tendency to subscribe the “conflict” view. This notion is based on the finding that, on the one hand, nonreligious individuals are more inclined to regard science as the only effective means of achieving instrumental goals, contributing to their stronger endorsement of the “conflict” view, and, on the other hand, religious individuals are more likely to perceive science and religion as equally instrumental (i.e., the instrumentality hypothesis; Jackson et al, 2020a, 2020b). A line of evidence, indeed, substantiates this notion by revealing that religious individuals tend to view scientific and religious explanations as equally instrumental, whereas nonreligious individuals rely solely on scientific explanations (Jackson et al, 2020a, Study 3; see also Funk & Alper, 2015).…”