Global evidence of extreme intuitive moral prejudice against atheists

Abstract

Mounting evidence supports long-standing claims that religions can extend cooperative networks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. However, religious prosociality may have a strongly parochial component 5. Moreover, aspects of religion may promote or exacerbate conflict with those outside a given religious group, promoting regional violence 10, intergroup conflict 11 and tacit prejudice against non-believers 12, 13. Anti-Atheist prejudice-a growing concern in increasingly secular societies 14-affects employment, elections, family life and broader social inclusion 12, 13. Preliminary work in the United States suggests that anti-Atheist prejudice stems, in part, from deeply rooted intuitions about religion's putatively necessary role in morality. However, the cross-cultural prevalence and magnitude-as well as intracultural demographic stability-of such intuitions, as manifested in intuitive associations of immorality with atheists, remain unclear. Here, we quantify moral distrust of atheists by applying well-Tested measures in a large global sample (N = 3,256; 13 diverse countries). Consistent with cultural evolutionary theories of religion and morality, people in most-but not all-of these countries viewed extreme moral violations as representative of atheists. Notably, anti-Atheist prejudice was even evident among atheist participants around the world. The results contrast with recent polls that do not find self-reported moral prejudice against atheists in highly secular countries 15, and imply that the recent rise in secularism in Western countries has not overwritten intuitive anti-Atheist prejudice. Entrenched moral suspicion of atheists suggests that religion's powerful influence on moral judgements persists, even among non-believers in secular societies.