The Naturalness of Religious Ideas: A Cognitive Theory of Religion
Abstract
Why do people have religious ideas? And why thosereligious ideas? The main theme of Pascal Boyer's work is that important aspects of religious representations are constrained by universal properties of the human mind-brain. Experimental results from developmental psychology, he says, can explain why certain religious representations are more likely to be acquired, stored, and transmitted by human minds. Considering these universal constraints, Boyer proposes an exciting new answer to the question of why similar religious representations are found in so many different cultures. His work will be widely discussed by cultural anthropologists, psychologists, and students of religion, history, and philosophy.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Counterintuitivity is an attribute of successful religious beliefs because it makes them striking and memorable.
“Moreover, as Boyer (1994) argues, counterintuitivity is an attribute of successful religious beliefs because it makes them striking and memorable.”
From Sleep, Dreaming, and the Imagination: Psychosocial Adaptations to an Ever-Changing World (2013) · cites this paper as Boyer (1994)
Cites
Still being checked.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Culture and systems of thought: Holistic versus analytic cognition.
Nisbett, R. E., Peng, K., Choi, I., & Norenzayan, A. (2001) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.108.2.291 · Cited by 4,263 · see citing works
The evolution of cultural evolution
Henrich, J., & Mcelreath, R. (2003) · Evolutionary Anthropology Issues News and Reviews · doi:10.1002/evan.10110 · Cited by 1,024 · see citing works
Religiosity and ethical behavior in organizations: a symbolic interactionist perspective
Weaver, G. R., & Agle, B. R. (2002) · The Academy of Management Review · doi:10.2307/4134370 · Cited by 954 · see citing works
Understanding Early Civilizations
Trigger, B. G. (2003) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511840630 · Cited by 629 · see citing works
On the reception and detection of pseudo-profound bullshit
Pennycook, G., Allan Cheyne, J., Barr, N., Koehler, D. J., & Fugelsang, J. A. (2015) · Judgment and Decision Making · doi:10.1017/s1930297500006999 · Cited by 536 · see citing works
McCauley, R. N., & Lawson, E. T. (2002) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511606410 · Cited by 557 · see citing works
Beyond intuition and instinct blindness: toward an evolutionarily rigorous cognitive science
Cosmides, L., & Tooby, J. (1994) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/0010-0277(94)90020-5 · Cited by 511 · see citing works
Boyer, P., & Ramble, C. (2001) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1016/s0364-0213(01)00045-3 · Cited by 506 · see citing works
Self-citationThe cultural evolution of prosocial religions
Norenzayan, A., Shariff, A. F., Gervais, W. M., Willard, A. K., McNamara, R. A., Slingerland, E., & Henrich, J. (2016) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x14001356 · Cited by 934 · see citing works
Gelman, R. (1978) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/0471214426.pas0212 · Cited by 426 · see citing works
The multiple roles of cultural transmission experiments in understanding human cultural evolution
Mesoudi, A., & Whiten, A. (2008) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0129 · Cited by 384 · see citing works
Memory and Mystery: The Cultural Selection of Minimally Counterintuitive Narratives
Ara Norenzayan, A., Scott Atran, B., Faulkner, J., & Schaller, M. (2006) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1207/s15516709cog0000_68 · Cited by 383 · see citing works
Scott Atran, B., Medin, D. L., & Roß, N. (2005) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.112.4.744 · Cited by 367 · see citing works
Five Misunderstandings About Cultural Evolution
Henrich, J., Boyd, R., & Richerson, P. J. (2008) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/s12110-008-9037-1 · Cited by 360 · see citing works
Keane, W. (1997) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.26.1.47 · Cited by 334 · see citing works
In defence of generalized Darwinism
Aldrich, H. E., Hodgson, G. M., Hull, D. L., Knudsen, T., Mokyr, J., & Vanberg, V. J. (2008) · Journal of Evolutionary Economics · doi:10.1007/s00191-008-0110-z · Cited by 316 · see citing works
Whence Collective Rituals? A Cultural Selection Model of Ritualized Behavior
Liénard, P., & Boyer, P. (2006) · American Anthropologist · doi:10.1525/aa.2006.108.4.814 · Cited by 299 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Existential Theory of Mind
Bering, J. M. (2002) · Review of General Psychology · doi:10.1037/1089-2680.6.1.3 · Cited by 269 · see citing works
Why religion is nothing special but is central
Bloch, M. E. F. (2008) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0007 · Cited by 261 · see citing works
Stich, S. P., Laurence, S., & Carruthers, P. (2005) · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195179675.001.0001 · Cited by 259 · see citing works
Boyer, P. (1998) · American Anthropologist · doi:10.1525/aa.1998.100.4.876 · Cited by 241 · see citing works
Self-citationSperber, D. (2005) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195179675.003.0004 · Cited by 240 · see citing works
Iterated learning: Intergenerational knowledge transmission reveals inductive biases
Kalish, M. L., Griffiths, T. L., & Lewandowsky, S. (2007) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/bf03194066 · Cited by 220 · see citing works
Cognitive style and religiosity: The role of conflict detection
Pennycook, G., Cheyne, J. A., Barr, N., Koehler, D. J., & Fugelsang, J. A. (2013) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/s13421-013-0340-7 · Cited by 229 · see citing works
Cognitive Science of Religion: What Is It and Why Is It?
Barrett, J. L. (2007) · Religion Compass · doi:10.1111/j.1749-8171.2007.00042.x · Cited by 209 · see citing works
Slone, D. J. (2004) · doi:10.1093/0195169263.001.0001 · Cited by 198 · see citing works
Lave, J., & Gomes, A. M. R. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108616416 · Cited by 191 · see citing works
Storytelling as Adaptive Collective Sensemaking
Bietti, L. M., Tilston, O., & Bangerter, A. (2019) · Topics in Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/tops.12358 · Cited by 205 · see citing works
Tremlin, T. (2006) · doi:10.1093/0195305345.001.0001 · Cited by 173 · see citing works
Scott Atran, B. (2001) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/s12110-001-1003-0 · Cited by 171 · see citing works
Relativism and the Ontological Turn within Anthropology
Paleček, M., & Risjord, M. W. (2012) · Philosophy of the Social Sciences · doi:10.1177/0048393112463335 · Cited by 168 · see citing works
Cognitive attraction and online misinformation
Acerbi, A. (2019) · Palgrave Communications · doi:10.1057/s41599-019-0224-y · Cited by 161 · see citing works
Four misunderstandings about cultural attraction
Scott‐Phillips, T., Blancke, S., & Heintz, C. (2018) · Evolutionary Anthropology Issues News and Reviews · doi:10.1002/evan.21716 · Cited by 158 · see citing works
Complementarity Theory: Why Human Social Capacities Evolved to Require Cultural Complements
Fiske, A. P. (2000) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1207/s15327957pspr0401_7 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
Nisbett, R. E., & Ara Norenzayan, A. (2002) · doi:10.1002/0471214426.pas0213 · Cited by 157 · see citing works
Gil-White, F. J. (1999) · Ethnic and Racial Studies · doi:10.1080/014198799329260 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
Culture shapes the evolution of cognition
Thompson, B., Kirby, S., & Smith, K. (2016) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1523631113 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Religious and Spiritual Development
King, P. E., & Boyatzis, C. J. (2015) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781118963418.childpsy323 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
Theoretical and empirical evidence for the impact of inductive biases on cultural evolution
Griffiths, T. L., Kalish, M. L., & Lewandowsky, S. (2008) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0146 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
Woolley, J. D., Boerger, E. A., & Markman, A. B. (2004) · Developmental Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-7687.2004.00366.x · Cited by 130 · see citing works
Our Gods: Variation in Supernatural Minds
Purzycki, B. G., & Sosis, R. H. (2010) · The frontiers collection · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-13968-0_5 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
Are We all Natural Dualists? A Cognitive Developmental Approach*
Astuti, R. (2001) · Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute · doi:10.1111/1467-9655.00071 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
The cognitive and evolutionary psychology of religion
Bulbulia, J. (2004) · Biology & Philosophy · doi:10.1007/s10539-005-5568-6 · Cited by 214 · see citing works
Watts, I., Chazan, M., & Wilkins, J. (2016) · Current Anthropology · doi:10.1086/686484 · Cited by 157 · see citing works
Upal, M. A., Gonce, L. O., Tweney, R. D., & Slone, D. J. (2007) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1080/15326900701326568 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Religious Beliefs as Reflective Elaborations on Intuitions: A Modified Dual-Process Model
Baumard, N., & Boyer, P. (2013) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0963721413478610 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Self-citationSuperstition and belief as inevitable by-products of an adaptive learning strategy
Beck, J., & Forstmeier, W. (2007) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/bf02820845 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Modularity and the Social Mind
Kurzban, R., & Aktipis, A. (2007) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/1088868306294906 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Cognitive Science of Religion: Looking Back, Looking Forward
Barrett, J. L. (2011) · Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion · doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2011.01564.x · Cited by 110 · see citing works
How Children and Adults Represent God's Mind
Heiphetz, L., Lane, J. D., Waytz, A. G., & Young, L. (2015) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/cogs.12232 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
To Trust or not to Trust? Children’s Social Epistemology
Clément, F. (2010) · Review of Philosophy and Psychology · doi:10.1007/s13164-010-0022-3 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Morphy, H. (2009) · Journal of Material Culture · doi:10.1177/1359183508100006 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
MCI theory: a critical discussion
Purzycki, B., & Willard, A. (2016) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2015.1024915 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Organizational Rituals: Features, Functions and Mechanisms
Smith, A. C. T., & Stewart, B. (2011) · International Journal of Management Reviews · doi:10.1111/j.1468-2370.2010.00288.x · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Resolving the Debate on Innate Ideas
Tooby, J., & Barrett, H. C. (2005) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195179675.003.0018 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Kinship and Evolved Psychological Dispositions
Bloch, M. E. F., & Sperber, D. (2002) · Current Anthropology · doi:10.1086/341654 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Scourfield, J., Gilliat‐Ray, S., Khan, A. S., & Otri, S. (2013) · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199600311.001.0001 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Banerjee, K., Haque, O. S., & Spelke, E. S. (2013) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/cogs.12037 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Memory and Belief in the Transmission of Counterintuitive Content
Willard, A., Henrich, J., & Norenzayan, A. (2016) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/s12110-016-9259-6 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Marquette, H. (2012) · Public Administration and Development · doi:10.1002/pad.1605 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Towards a cognitive theory of existential meaning
Bering, J. M. (2003) · New Ideas in Psychology · doi:10.1016/s0732-118x(03)00014-x · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Neuroscience, evolution and the sapient paradox: the factuality of value and of the sacred
Renfrew, C. (2008) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0010 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Rethinking Durkheim and his Tradition
Schmaus, W. (2004) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511498329 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Religious agency, identity, and communication: reflections on history and theory of religion
Rüpke, J. (2015) · Religion · doi:10.1080/0048721x.2015.1024040 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Predictive coding in agency detection
Andersen, M. M. (2017) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2017.1387170 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Cognitive Neuroscience and the Structure of the Moral Mind
Greene, J. D. (2005) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195179675.003.0019 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Are Atypical Things More Popular?
Berger, J. A., & Packard, G. M. (2018) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797618759465 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
The supernatural is everywhere: Defining qualities of religion in Melanesia and beyond
Lohmann, R. (2003) · Anthropological Forum · doi:10.1080/0066467032000129842 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Handbook of Conspiracy Theory and Contemporary Religion
Wood, M. J., & Douglas, K. (2018) · BRILL eBooks · doi:10.1163/9789004382022 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Medical conspiracy theories: cognitive science and implications for ethics
Andrade, G. E. (2020) · Medicine Health Care and Philosophy · doi:10.1007/s11019-020-09951-6 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
The Spanish conquest and the Maya collapse: how ‘religious’ is change?
Graham, E. A., Simmons, S. E., & White, C. D. (2013) · World Archaeology · doi:10.1080/00438243.2013.770962 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Precaution systems and ritualized behavior
Boyer, P., & Linard, P. (2006) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x06009575 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Self-citationHow can you capture cultural dynamics?
Kashima, Y. (2014) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00995 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Cutting culture at the joints?
Sperber, D. (2017) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2017.1323783 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Lane, J. D., & Harris, P. (2014) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691613518078 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Religious People and Paranormal Believers
Aarnio, K., & Lindeman, M. (2007) · Journal of Individual Differences · doi:10.1027/1614-0001.28.1.1 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
What makes weird beliefs thrive? The epidemiology of pseudoscience
Boudry, M., Blancke, S., & Pigliucci, M. (2014) · Philosophical Psychology · doi:10.1080/09515089.2014.971946 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Counterintuitiveness as the hallmark of religiosity
Pyysiäinen, I., Lindeman, M., & Honkela, T. (2003) · Religion · doi:10.1016/j.religion.2003.09.001 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
How convenient! The epistemic rationale of self-validating belief systems
Boudry, M., & Braeckman, J. (2012) · Philosophical Psychology · doi:10.1080/09515089.2011.579420 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Experience as event: event cognition and the study of (religious) experiences
Taves, A., & Asprem, E. (2016) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2016.1150327 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Sterelny, K. (2018) · Religion, Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2017.1323779 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Immunizing Strategies and Epistemic Defense Mechanisms
Boudry, M., & Braeckman, J. (2010) · Philosophia · doi:10.1007/s11406-010-9254-9 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Radical Interpretation in Religion
(2002) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511613906 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
How shamanism and group selection may reveal the origins of schizophrenia
Polimeni, J. O., & Reiss, J. P. (2002) · Medical Hypotheses · doi:10.1054/mehy.2001.1504 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
The Political Economy of Attention
Pedersen, M. A., Albris, K., & Seaver, N. (2021) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev-anthro-101819-110356 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Religion is natural, atheism is not: On why everybody is both right and wrong
Geertz, A. W., & Markússon, G. I. (2010) · Religion · doi:10.1016/j.religion.2009.11.003 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Language and the Development of Spatial Reasoning
Shusterman, A., & Spelke, E. S. (2005) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195179675.003.0006 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Disbelief in belief: On the cognitive status of supernatural beliefs
Boudry, M., & Coyne, J. A. (2016) · Philosophical Psychology · doi:10.1080/09515089.2015.1110852 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
CAPTURING IMAGINATION: A COGNITIVE APPROACH TO CULTURAL COMPLEXITY
Severi, C. (2004) · Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9655.2004.00213.x · Cited by 60 · see citing works
McCauley, R. N. (2020) · Zygon® · doi:10.1111/zygo.12573 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
On the functional orgins of essentialism
Barrett, H. C. (2001) · Mind & Society · doi:10.1007/bf02512073 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Norenzayan, A., Shariff, A. F., Gervais, W. M., Willard, A. K., McNamara, R. A., Slingerland, E., & Henrich, J. (2016) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x15000655 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Boyer, P. (2019) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2019.1678518 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Self-citationHearing Voices and Other Matters of the Mind
McCauley, R. N., & Graham, G. (2020) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190091149.001.0001 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Religion and psychosis: A common evolutionary trajectory?
Dein, S., & Littlewood, R. (2011) · Transcultural Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/1363461511402723 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Radical interpretation and pragmatism: Davidson, Rorty, and Brandom on truth
Stout, J. (2002) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511613906.004 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Innateness and Moral Psychology
Nichols, S. (2005) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195179675.003.0020 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Dreaming, Adaptation, and Consciousness.The Social Mapping Hypothesis
Brereton, D. (2000) · Ethos · doi:10.1525/eth.2000.28.3.379 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Stansfield, R. (2018) · Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health · doi:10.1002/cbm.2071 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Supernatural Belief Is Not Modulated by Intuitive Thinking Style or Cognitive Inhibition
Farias, M., van Mulukom, V., Kahane, G., Kreplin, U., Joyce, A., Soares, P. P., Oviedo, L., Hernu, M., Rokita, K., Savulescu, J., et al. (2017) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-017-14090-9 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
- Authors
- Boyer, P.
- Corresponding author
- Boyer, Pascal
- ORCID
- Boyer, Pascal
- Venue
- University of California Press eBooks
- Publisher
- University of California Press
- Published
- 1994-12-31
- OpenAlex
- W4243162844
- Cited by
- 780
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 27 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 44 · 2020: 40 · 2019: 33 · 2018: 44 · 2017: 39 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 28 · 2013: 31 · 2012: 26
- FWCI
- 23.58
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- University of California Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Study and Philosophy of Religion
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Evolution and Science Education
- Keywords
- Pascal Boyer, naturalism, religious representation, religious cognition
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
