HOW CAN SOMEONE WHOSE MEASURE OF RIGHT AND WRONG IS PURELY PERSONAL BE TRUSTWORTHY?:

Distrust Feeds Anti-Atheist Prejudice: New research finds atheists are widely perceived as untrustworthy, which may be a major factor in why they're disliked more than other minorities. (Tom Jacobs, 11/16/11, Miller-McCune)

A landmark 2006 study, analyzing data from a large survey of Americans, found that atheists "are less likely to be accepted, publicly and privately, than any others from a long list of ethnic, religious and other minority groups." Writing in the American Sociological Review, researchers noted that "while rejection of Muslims may have spiked in post-9/11 America, rejection of atheists was higher."

So why are atheists "among the least liked people ... in most of the world," in the words of a research team led by University of British Columbia psychologist Will Gervais? In a newly published paper, he and his colleagues provide evidence supporting a plausible explanation.

Atheists, they argue, are widely viewed as people you cannot trust.

"People use cues of religiosity as a signal for trustworthiness," the researchers write in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Given that "trustworthiness is the most valued trait in other people," this mental equation engenders a decidedly negative attitude toward nonbelievers.

Posted by oj at November 15, 2011 4:07 PM
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