Even Atheists Think That Atheists Are More Immoral.

[seer]

I think they need better PR!

A unusual social study has revealed that atheists are more easily suspected of vile deeds than Christians, Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists—strikingly, even by fellow atheists, researchers said Monday.

This suggests that in an increasingly secular world, many—including some atheists—still hold the view that people will do bad things unless they fear punishment from all-seeing gods.

The results of the study "show that across the world, religious belief is intuitively viewed as a necessary safeguard against the temptations of grossly immoral conduct," an international team wrote in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.

And it revealed that "atheists are broadly perceived as potentially morally depraved and dangerous."

The study measured the attitudes of more than 3,000 people in 13 countries on five continents.

They ranged from "very secular" countries such as China and the Netherlands, to countries with high numbers of believers such as the United Arab Emirates, United States, and India.
The countries had populations that were either predominantly Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim or non-religious.

Participants were given a description of a fictional evildoer who tortured animals as a child, then grows up to become a teacher who murders and mutilates five homeless people.
Half of the group were asked how likely it was that the perpetrator was a religious believer, and the other half how likely that he was an atheist.


https://phys.org/news/2017-08-atheis...ellow.html#jCp

[firstfloor]

I think they need better PR!

It is better PR.
From the article:
- In a comment carried by the journal, Adam Cohen and Jordan Moon of the Arizona State University's psychology department, said the study marked "an important advance in explaining the prevalence of anti-atheist attitudes."

What’s your attitude towards Chocolate Chip Cricket Cookies?

[seer]

It is better PR.
From the article:
- In a comment carried by the journal, Adam Cohen and Jordan Moon of the Arizona State University's psychology department, said the study marked "an important advance in explaining the prevalence of anti-atheist attitudes."

What’s your attitude towards Chocolate Chip Cricket Cookies?

I hate Chocolate Chip Atheist cookies...

[Mountain Man]

I see, so it's not the atheist who has to improve, it's the attitudes of other people.

[seer]

I see, so it's not the atheist who has to improve, it's the attitudes of other people.

The upshot is that we generally see religious people as more moral.

[rogue06]

I see, so it's not the atheist who has to improve, it's the attitudes of other people.

Including, apparently, other atheists.

[Zymologist]

You know what bothers me about this thread?

The comma in the title. GAH I can't stand it.

[Darth Executor]

the article seems to be a gross misrepresentation of the actual findings, which is that people are more likely to think monsters are not religious. Doesn't really say anything about morality of general population, atheist or otherwise.

[firstfloor]

I see, so it's not the atheist who has to improve, it's the attitudes of other people.

Correct.

[Bill the Cat]

You know what bothers me about this thread?

The comma in the title. GAH I can't stand it.

animated-bob-the-builder-image-0045.gif

[EvoUK]

Well played on the click bait. A nice piece of work even by your esteemed standards.

[Starlight]

Reminds me of Bill O'Reilly's false claim when he was on Fox that none of the mass-murderers he'd covered in his time there were religious. And thus he reckoned more religion was the solution to crime. The actual reality? They were nearly all religious.

I'm amused when I follow the link through:

Only in Finland and New Zealand, two secular countries, did the experiment not yield conclusive evidence of anti-atheist prejudice, said the team.

Basically, religious people popularize a false narrative that religious=moral and atheist=immoral and that narrative permeates the country and even to the point where it gets believed by some atheists. Only in countries where the rates of atheism are high does the obvious falsity of that narrative become apparent to everyone.

[Darth Executor]

Reminds me of Bill O'Reilly's false claim when he was on Fox that none of the mass-murderers he'd covered in his time there were religious. And thus he reckoned more religion was the solution to crime.

More like reminds me of that time you posted a link of "white Christian" mass shooters and they variously turned out to be atheists, muslims, and in a couple of cases not even white.

[seer]

Well played on the click bait. A nice piece of work even by your esteemed standards.

What are you talking about:

Half of the group were asked how likely it was that the perpetrator was a religious believer, and the other half how likely that he was an atheist.

Dangerous bias

The team found that people were about twice as likely to assume that the serial killer was an atheist.

"It is striking that even atheists appear to hold the same intuitive anti-atheist bias," study co-author Will Gervais, a psychology professor at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, told AFP.

"I suspect that this stems from the prevalence of deeply entrenched pro-religious norms. Even in places that are currently quite overtly secular, people still seem to intuitively hold on to the believe that religion is a moral safeguard."


https://phys.org/news/2017-08-atheis...ellow.html#jCp

[Mountain Man]

I see, so it's not the atheist who has to improve, it's the attitudes of other people.

Correct.

Says the doctor to the man with the flu, "You're perfectly healthy. It's everyone else who is sick!"