In Godlessness We Distrust: Using Social Psychology to Solve the Puzzle of Anti‐atheist Prejudice

Gervais, Will M.

doi:10.1111/spc3.12035

Cited by 106Social and Intergroup PsychologyReligion and Society InteractionsPsychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment

In Godlessness We Distrust: Using Social Psychology to Solve the Puzzle of Anti‐atheist Prejudice

Gervais, Will M.·2013·Social and Personality Psychology Compass

DOI 10.1111/spc3.12035

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Abstract

Most people believe in a god of some sort. Nonetheless, there are hundreds of millions of atheists in the world, and they face considerable discrimination and prejudice. This is a puzzling form of prejudice: Atheists do not form a coherent group, they are individually inconspicuous, and they are not, in general, oppositional or threatening. Recent research in social, evolutionary, and cultural psychology, however, offers suggestions for solving the puzzle of anti‐atheist prejudice, in terms of both uncovering its psychological causes and also suggesting interventions for reducing it. Antipathy towards atheists derives specifically from moral distrust – to many people, belief in a watchful, moralizing god is seen as a uniquely powerful and perhaps necessary component of morality. Without religious belief, atheists are viewed as moral wildcards who cannot be trusted. This unique basis in turn implies specific ways in which distrust of atheists might be ameliorated.

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There is a widespread cross-cultural stereotype that atheists are untrustworthy and lack a moral compass.
“There is a widespread cross-cultural stereotype suggesting that atheists are untrustworthy and lack a moral compass.”
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 [5]
Prejudice against atheists is driven by distrust.
“Psychologists have recently started to examine why people have such antipathy toward atheists, and the findings strongly suggest that prejudice against atheists is driven by distrust [4–8].”
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 [5]

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Do You Believe in Atheists? Distrust Is Central to Anti-atheist Prejudice. Unpublished manuscript under review
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Watchful gods, watchful governments, and the peculiar psychological properties of anti-atheist prejudice
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Distrust persists after subverting atheist stereotypes
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Authors: Gervais, W. M.
Affiliations: University of Kentucky (US)
Corresponding author: Gervais, Will M.
ORCID: Gervais, Will M.
Venue: Social and Personality Psychology Compass
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2013-06
Volume: 7
Issue: 6
Pages: 366-377
ISSN: 1751-9004 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1111/spc3.12035
OpenAlex: W1892961998
Cited by: 106
References: 73
Citations by year: 2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 1
FWCI: 26.85
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor, 17 d)
Locations: Social and Personality Psychology Compass (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Religion and Society Interactions
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
Keywords: atheists, moralizing gods, religious beliefs, prejudice reduction, moral psychology, evolutionary psychology, cultural psychology, social psychology of religion

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In Godlessness We Distrust: Using Social Psychology to Solve the Puzzle of Anti‐atheist Prejudice

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