Religion, cognitive style, and rational thinking

Recent research has reported strong correlations among trait measures of religious belief, social conservatism (as a political ideology), deontological reasoning about morality, and (negatively) measures of rational cognitive style. I suggest many modern societies are divided between two cultural groups who think differently and have different beliefs, with one group being influenced by the Enlightenment and the other still accepting older beliefs and ways of thinking, often based on religious traditions. A plausible alternative account of many results is that individual differences in cognitive style affect the course of individual development, and actively open-minded thinking may lead to abandonment of religion. Here, I review some of the recent research on these correlations.