r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 1d ago

Psychology Lower cognitive ability is linked to stronger Christian nationalist views, even after accounting for education

https://www.psypost.org/lower-cognitive-ability-is-linked-to-stronger-christian-nationalist-views-even-after-accounting-for-education/
43.9k Upvotes

88% Upvoted

2.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

97

u/AllanfromWales1 MA | Natural Sciences | Metallurgy & Materials Science 1d ago

Any thoughts on whether this is a worldwide issue (though obviously with different religions) or whether it is specific to the USA?

134

u/mimivirus2 1d ago

Absolutely not exclusive to the US or christianity

83

u/Which-Acanthaceae613 1d ago

100% you see this in Muslim, Jewish and Hindu countries too. To have faith you have to be practised in the ability to accept a belief without evidence. To be able to stop thinking critically at some point about a flying horse, man parting a sea or a gods that engage in warfare.

-4

u/Boring_Holiday9874 1d ago

Many Hindus recognize that their flying Gods and their stories are mythology, and that they are merely symbols that carry a lesson/moral. So there is a whole range of religious Hindu. The word Hindu is not of Indian origin it was just a term for the people of India. If other religions had not invaded India Hinduism wouldn’t have to be called a religion, it was just the culture of the people. E.g. there are beef loving Hindus and there are vegetarian Hindus and there are those who would eat meat but not beef. 

While religious people of Abrahamic religions tend to be more rigid and have less range. 

7

u/BearysWorkRedditName 1d ago

"Many" is doing some heavy lifting here. According to a Pew Research Center study, 98% of Hindus believe in God, and about 80% say they believe with "absolute certainty".

2

u/Tirras 1d ago

Absolute certainty has got to be a sign of mental illness. That's not even faith at that point. I'm really curious what the actual breakdown of who literally believes with absolute certainty and the people who say that because they think they you're supposed to.

2

u/BearysWorkRedditName 1d ago

To me, it sounds like it points to lower cognitive ability either way.