Bronnen bij Sociologische begrippen: religie, intelligentie en dergelijke

New meta-analysis checks the correlation between intelligence and faith First systematic analysis of its kind even proposes reasons for the negative correlation. ...     if you look at the studies conducted over the past century, you will find that those with religious beliefs will, on the whole, score lower on tests of intelligence. That is the conclusion of psychologists Miron Zuckerman and Jordan Silberman of the University of Rochester and Judith Hall of Northeastern University who have published a meta-analysis in Personality and Social Psychology Review.     This is the first systematic meta-analysis of 63 studies conducted between 1928 and 2012. In such an analysis, the authors look at each study’s sample size, quality of data collection, and analysis methods and then account for biases that may have inadvertently crept into the work. This data is next refracted through the prism of statistical theory to draw an overarching conclusion of what scholars in this field find. “Our conclusion,” as Zuckerman puts it, “is not new.”    ...     The three psychologists have defined intelligence as the “ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience.” In short this is analytic intelligence, not the newly identified forms of creative and emotional intelligence, which are still subjects of dispute.  ...     Religiosity is defined as involvement in some (or all) facets of religion, which includes belief in the supernatural, offering gifts to this supernatural, and performing rituals affirming their beliefs. Other signs of religiosity were measured using surveys, church attendance, and membership in religious organizations.    ...     Is there a chance that higher intelligence makes people less religious? Two sets of large-scale studies tried to answer this question.     The first are based on the Terman cohort of the gifted, started in 1921 by Lewis Terman, a psychologist at Stanford University. (The cohort is still being followed.) In the study, Terman recruited more than 1,500 children whose IQ exceeded 135 at the age of 10. Two studies used this data, one conducted by Robin Sears at Columbia University in 1995 and the other by Michael McCullough at the University of Miami in 2005, and they found that “Termites,” as the gifted are called, were less religious when compared to the general public.     What makes these results remarkable is not just that these gifted folks were less religious, something that is seen among elite scientists as well, but that 60 percent of the Termites reported receiving “very strict” or “considerable” religious training while 33 percent received little training. Thus, almost all of the gifted Termites grew up to be less religious.    ... The relationship between countries' belief in a god and national average IQ. Richard Lynn ...    Overall, Zuckerman, Silberman, and Hall conclude that, according to their meta-analysis, there is little doubt a significant negative correlation exists (i.e. people who are more religious score worse on varying measures of intelligence). The correlation is more negative when religiosity measures beliefs rather than behavior. That may be because religious behavior may be used to help someone appear to be part of a group even though they may not believe in the supernatural.    ...

Science hotspots Het aantal onderzoekers per miljoen inwoners in een land zegt veel over de staat van een land en van de economie. De zaken zijn soms oneerlijk verdeeld op onze planeet.

Daarom is het onderzoek (van oa Princeton University) naar de relatie tussen religie en innovatie erg interessant. Innovatie is uiteraard van groot belang voor technologische vooruitgang en de daaruit volgende economische groei. Bovenstaande grafiek laat - niet zo heel verrassend - zien dat er een significante negatieve relatie is tussen religiositeit en innovatie, gemeten aan het aantal patenten per hoofd van de bevolking.

Hor.: moslims (%) - vert.: IQ