Date of Award
May 2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Psychology
Committee Member
Zhuo J Chen
Committee Member
Mary Anne Taylor
Committee Member
Ceren Gunsoy
Abstract
Within the United States, there is an observable phenomenon that for many individuals Christianity and secularism are two incompatible and opposed rationalities. However, there is currently no conclusive evidence to explain the resultant conflict between religion and science. The current project aimed to establish causal relationships between analytical thinking and religiosity and build an explanatory model with defensiveness against secularism as the mediator for this association. Religious individuals reject secularism because they see it as a threat to their religious belief, value systems, and society at large. They perceive secularism as an abject rejection of those religious values they hold as important, and as a result they consciously and unconsciously resist cognitive strategies related to scientific reasoning. However, this study did not find support for the previously established negative relationship between analytic thinking and religiosity, even though Christians did find secularism to be a threat to their beliefs. Instead, there appeared to be a disconnect in individuals’ construals of their religiosity and secular reasoning. Further research is necessary to assess the generalizability of previous claims of a robust, negative association between religiosity and analytic thinking, and how dissonant cultural beliefs impact behavior.
Recommended Citation
Villanueva, Randle Aaron Molina, "Religious Openness to Secularism (ROSE): Effect of Cognitive Style on Defensiveness and Religiosity" (2020). All Theses. 3265.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/3265