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Study Explores Distrust of Atheists by Believers
Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2012 9:59 pm
by _MrStakhanovite
"Where there are religious majorities -- that is, in most of the world -- atheists are among the least trusted people," says lead author Will Gervais, a doctoral student in UBC's Dept. of Psychology. "With more than half a billion atheists worldwide, this prejudice has the potential to affect a substantial number of people."
While reasons behind antagonism towards atheists have not been fully explored, the study -- published in the current online issue of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology -- is among the first explorations of the social psychological processes underlying anti-atheist sentiments.
SAUCE
Re: Study Explores Distrust of Atheists by Believers
Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2012 10:57 pm
by _EAllusion
Yes, but I think the article is overstating the degree to which this hasn't been studied before. There are studies going back at least to the 90's that indicate that atheists are widely maligned because of distrust and further that this distrust is mediated by an association between atheism and amorality.
I find this tremendously frustrating because, as a technical matter, the only moral theories worth taking seriously are secular in nature and further it is relatively blatant that in the US atheists tend to be a a fairly trustworthy group on a account of their average socioeconomic status. It's about as rational as a massive societal distrust of computer programmers.