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Distrust is the central motivating factor behind why religious people dislike atheists, according to a new study led by University of British Columbia psychologists.
“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.”…
“This antipathy is striking, as atheists are not a coherent, visible or powerful social group,” says Gervais, who co-authored the study with UBC Associate Prof. Ara Norenzayan and Azim Shariff of the University of Oregon. The study is titled, Do You Believe in Atheists? Distrust is Central to Anti-Atheist Prejudice…
The religious behaviors of others may provide believers with important social cues, the researchers say. “Outward displays of belief in God may be viewed as a proxy for trustworthiness, particularly by religious believers who think that people behave better if they feel that God is watching them,” says Norenzayan. “While atheists may see their disbelief as a private matter on a metaphysical issue, believers may consider atheists’ absence of belief as a public threat to cooperation and honesty.” -Science Daily
Writing Prompt: Write a character sketch about your character’s religious beliefs. Include how he or she feels about people who hold different beliefs.
Journaling Prompt: Write about the biases that you have towards people who hold religious beliefs that are different from your own.
Art Prompt: Religion
Nonfiction / Speech Writing Prompt: Inform your audience about the basis of religious distrust and give them tools to guard against it in themselves.
Photo Credit: Life in Flintville on Flickr
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People who loved her always said Bessie’s face was better than a beautiful one, for it told nothing but the truth about itself. It did not say, “Come, admire me,” as some faces say, but, “Come, trust me if you can.” -Our Bessie, Rosa N. Carey
Writing Prompt: Describe a person’s face without using a physical description.
Journaling Prompt: Describe your own face as you would like people to see you.
Art Prompt: Honest face
Creative NonFiction / Speech Writing Prompt: Describe someone or someplace without giving a physical description.
Photo Credit: cinnamon_girl on Flickr.
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“People have high status because other people like and admire them. The result is that high-status individuals come to expect that others are going to treat them well, which makes them more likely to trust,” Lount said.
“The road from high status to increased trust is one paved with positive expectations of others’ motives.”
In a workplace, that means that bosses, who generally have more status than their employees, may be more trusting during initial encounters. Of course, levels of trust may change as people work together.
“But that initial encounter is really important because it shapes future behavior,” Lount said. “If your first signal is that you don’t fully trust someone, that could undermine future trust development.” -Science Daily
Writing Prompt: Write a scene about first impressions.
Journaling Prompt: Write about how you decide to trust people and how you think status affects your decision.
Art Prompt: Status
Photo Credit: Gangplank HQ on Flickr
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Here’s an easy way to decide if a person is trustworthy. Watch how they act when they are embarrassed.
“Embarrassment is one emotional signature of a person to whom you can entrust valuable resources. It’s part of the social glue that fosters trust and cooperation in everyday life,” said UC Berkeley social psychologist Robb Willer, a coauthor of the study published in this month’s online issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Not only are the UC Berkeley findings useful for people seeking cooperative and reliable team members and business partners, but they also make for helpful dating advice. Subjects who were more easily embarrassed reported higher levels of monogamy, according to the study.
“Moderate levels of embarrassment are signs of virtue,” said Matthew Feinberg, a doctoral student in psychology at UC Berkeley and lead author of the paper. “Our data suggests embarrassment is a good thing, not something you should fight.” The paper’s third author is UC Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner, an expert on pro-social emotions.
Researchers point out that the moderate type of embarrassment they examined should not be confused with debilitating social anxiety or with “shame,” which is associated in the psychology literature with such moral transgressions as being caught cheating.
While the most typical gesture of embarrassment is a downward gaze to one side while partially covering the face and either smirking or grimacing, a person who feels shame, as distinguished from embarrassment, will typically cover the whole face, Feinberg said. -Science Daily
Writing Prompt: Write a scene about a character who gets embarrassed. How does he or she react?
Journaling Prompt: Write about a time when you were embarrassed.
Art Prompt: Embarassment
Photo Credit: hj91 on Flickr
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