Conjunction error rates (proportion), Experiments 1–3.

<p>A) Given a description of serial murder and animal torture, participants were significantly more likely to commit a conjunction error for the atheist target than for any of five religious targets. B) Given a description of consensual incest, participants were significantly more likely to commit a conjunction error for the atheist target than for any of five religious targets. C) Given a description of a man having sex with, then eating, a dead chicken, participants were significantly more likely to commit a conjunction error for the atheist target than for any of five ethnic targets. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals of the mean.</p

Everything Is Permitted? People Intuitively Judge Immorality as Representative of Atheists

<div><p>Scientific research yields inconsistent and contradictory evidence relating religion to moral judgments and outcomes, yet most people on earth nonetheless view belief in God (or gods) as central to morality, and many view atheists with suspicion and scorn. To evaluate intuitions regarding a causal link between religion and morality, this paper tested intuitive moral judgments of atheists and other groups. Across five experiments (<i>N</i> = 1,152), American participants intuitively judged a wide variety of immoral acts (e.g., serial murder, consensual incest, necrobestiality, cannibalism) as representative of atheists, but not of eleven other religious, ethnic, and cultural groups. Even atheist participants judged immoral acts as more representative of atheists than of other groups. These findings demonstrate a prevalent intuition that belief in God serves a necessary function in inhibiting immoral conduct, and may help explain persistent negative perceptions of atheists.</p></div

Study 4: Two distinct measures of mentalizing mediated the effects of both autism spectrum (A) and gender (B) on belief in God (<i>N</i> = 452).

<p>*<i>p</i><.05, **<i>p</i><.01, ***<i>p</i><.001. Note. OR = odds ratio; <i>β</i> = standardized beta; b = unstandardized beta. Values in parentheses are mediated effects. <u>Autism Analysis Covariates</u>: Gender, Age, Education, Religious attendance, Interest in math, science, engineering. <u>Gender Analysis Covariates</u>: Autism Spectrum, Age, Education, Religious attendance, Interest in math, science, engineering.</p

Study 3: Mentalizing, but not systemizing, mediated the effects of both autism spectrum (A) and gender (B) on belief in a personal God (<i>N</i> = 706).

<p>*<i>p</i><.05, **<i>p</i><.01, ***<i>p</i><.001. Note. OR = odds ratio; <i>β</i> = standardized beta; b = unstandardized beta. Agreeableness, or Conscientiousness (not shown) also failed as mediators. Values in parentheses are mediated effects. <u>Autism Analysis Covariates</u>: Gender, Age, Education, Income, Religious attendance. <u>Gender Analysis Covariates</u>: Autism Spectrum, Age, Education, Income, Religious attendance.</p

Demographic and socio-economic background information in Studies 2–4.

<p>Demographic and socio-economic background information in Studies 2–4.</p