The psychology of nonbelievers

Contrary to some conceptualizations, nonbelievers are more than simply those scoring low on religiosity scales. They seem to be characterized by analytic, flexible, and open-minded social-cognitive attributes, although this may interact with sociocultural levels of religiosity. This paper demonstrates that nonbelief, at least in the West, tends to coincide with specific worldviews, namely valuing rationality and science, as well as humanistic and liberal values. Furthermore, nonbelievers seem to parallel believers in various indicators of health. Finally, as all ideologists, nonbelievers may hold prejudicial attitudes toward groups perceived as threatening their (secular) worldviews, although this has some limits. Global increases in secularity make the nascent psychological study of nonbelievers and nonreligious worldviews an important research programme.

Automated summary

Nonbelievers are more than just people who score low on religiosity scales, they tend to possess analytic, flexible, and open-minded social-cognitive attributes, and often align with specific worldviews that value rationality, science, humanism, and liberal values. Additionally, nonbelievers exhibit similar health indicators as believers, and may hold prejudicial attitudes towards groups perceived as threatening their worldviews. The increasing secularization globally highlights the importance of studying nonbelievers and nonreligious worldviews in the field of psychology.