God and the government: Testing a compensatory control mechanism for the support of external systems
Abstract
The authors propose that the high levels of support often observed for governmental and religious systems can be explained, in part, as a means of coping with the threat posed by chronically or situationally fluctuating levels of perceived personal control. Three experiments demonstrated a causal relation between lowered perceptions of personal control and the defense of external systems, including increased beliefs in the existence of a controlling God (Studies 1 and 2) and defense of the overarching socio-political system (Study 4). A 4th experiment (Study 5) showed the converse to be true: A challenge to the usefulness of external systems of control led to increased illusory perceptions of personal control. In addition, a cross-national data set demonstrated that lower levels of personal control are associated with higher support for governmental control (across 67 nations; Study 3). Each study identified theoretically consistent moderators and mediators of these effects. The implications of these results for understanding why a high percentage of the population believes in the existence of God, and why people so often endorse and justify their socio-political systems, are discussed.
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Threats to one's need to belong and one's sense of personal control increase conformity and support for the national government, respectively.
“In a similar vein, threats to one’s need to belong [53], and one’s sense of personal control [34], increase conformity and support for the national government, respectively.”
From The amoral atheist? A cross-national examination of cultural, motivational, and cognitive antecedents of disbelief, and their implications for morality (2021) · cites this paper as [34]
Living under conditions of low existential threat increases the likelihood of becoming a disbeliever.
“In summary, there appear to be at least three plausible contributors to religious disbelief: a lack of exposure to CREDs in the community while growing up, living under conditions of low existential threat, and a reliance on an analytic (vs. intuitive) cognitive style should all increase the likelihood of becoming a disbeliever.”
From The amoral atheist? A cross-national examination of cultural, motivational, and cognitive antecedents of disbelief, and their implications for morality (2021) · cites this paper as [34]
Existential threats are linked to increased group cohesion.
“based on a substantial literature linking various existential threats to increased group cohesion [34, 51–54]”
From The amoral atheist? A cross-national examination of cultural, motivational, and cognitive antecedents of disbelief, and their implications for morality (2021) · cites this paper as [34]
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References 98 · Cited by 809
- Authors
- Kay, A. C., Gaucher, D., Napier, J. L., Callan, M. J., & Laurin, K.
- Affiliations
- University of Waterloo (CA)
- New York University (US)
- Western University (CA)
- Venue
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- Published
- 2008
- Volume
- 95
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 18-35
- ISSN
- 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1315
- OpenAlex
- W2072253009
- Cited by
- 809
- References
- 98
- Citations by year
- 2026: 61 · 2025: 44 · 2024: 83 · 2023: 47 · 2022: 60 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 58 · 2019: 41 · 2018: 38 · 2017: 45 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 34 · 2014: 51 · 2013: 40 · 2012: 39
- FWCI
- 31.16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Open Access at Essex (University of Essex) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Keywords
- perceived personal control, compensatory control, belief in God, religious beliefs, political support, government support, illusion of control, cross-national comparison, religion and politics
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adolescent, Adult, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Culture, Defense Mechanisms, Female, Government, Humans, Internal-External Control, Life Change Events, Male, Middle Aged, Political Systems, Psychology, Social, Mental Recall, Religion and Psychology, Social Support
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