To Hell With the Devil: Lingering Negative Religious Beliefs Among Religious Dones

Abstract

Recent research on religious deidentification reveals that features of religion persist after deidentification—a phenomenon known as religious residue. However, heretofore, little work has examined the lingering effects of some of the more negative features of religion that those leaving religion may quickly be motivated to discard. We conducted a preregistered study (N = 925) to examine the lingering cognitive patterns of religion among currently religious, formerly religious (i.e., religious dones), and never religious individuals, including negative religious beliefs, superstitious thinking, pattern detection, and religiously taboo behavior. We found evidence for religious residue among negative religious beliefs, wherein religious dones maintained lingering beliefs in negative aspects of religion, such as hell and the devil, relative to never religious individuals, and these beliefs were associated with illusory pattern detection, superstitious beliefs, and greater likelihood to engage in religiously taboo behavior. Religious dones were likely to maintain some vestiges of negative religious belief, such as in hell and the devil, even among those who no longer believe in God. We discuss the implications of persistent negative religious beliefs among religious dones.