Bastiaan T Rutjens
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 1757818 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Bastiaan T Rutjens |
| NOMBRES | Bastiaan T |
| APELLIDO | Rutjens |
| FIRMA | RUTJENS B T |
| AFILIACIONES | University of Amsterdam |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3163-4156 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 38 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 117 |
| OBRAS COMO AUTOR | 37 |
| OBRAS COMO EDITOR | 1 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2008 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 6 |
Unconscious death thoughts
Several factors influence the Time Trade-off (TTO) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) health measures. In qualitative TTO studies, respondents often report thoughts of death which may induce mortality awareness. According to Terror Management Theory (TMT), mortality awareness gives rise to anxiety and increases unconscious death thought accessibility (DTA), potentially mitigated by secure attachment. Therefore a relation between DTA and attachment v…
SMaRT
Being confronted with inconsistencies between associations and reality is a frequent occurrence in people's day-to-day lives. Drawing from and integrating research on learning, evolutionary psychology, and threat-compensation, sense motivation and response theory (SMaRT) suggests that people have a need for the sensical. That is, for their experiences to be coherent with the expectations formed in their associative networks. When inconsistencies …
The feeling is not mutual
The aim of the present research was to examine the independent contribution of beliefs in science and religion, respectively, to perceptions of science–religion compatibility across diverse countries and religious groups. To assess this, we recruited participants from three countries (the United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Kazakhstan; N = 684) and presented them with measures of belief in science and religious belief as independent constructs, such…
Make America quiet again
Socially robust knowledge is scientific knowledge accepted by society for its contextual relevance. Citizen science, involving non-professional scientists, offers a promising approach to developing such knowledge. This study examines how citizen science fosters socially robust knowledge through a case-study on noise pollution’s impact on health and well-being in the Dutch village of America. Citizen scientists partnered with researchers of the Du…
Associations Between Perceived Societal Polarisation and (Extreme) Non‐Normative Attitudes and Behaviour
Perceptions of societal polarisation in a country may influence individuals’ willingness to engage in non(normative) collective action. In the present research, we test the hypothesis that perceived societal polarisation reduces trust in the government, particularly when the government is perceived as posing a threat to the own social group. In turn, we expect increased willingness to engage in collective action on behalf of the ingroup. To test …
Psychological Distance to Science Affects Science Evaluations
In four experiments (three preregistered; N total = 4511), we investigated the influence of psychological distance to science (PSYDISC) on science evaluations. PSYDISC reflects the extent to which science is perceived as an (in)tangible undertaking conducted by people (dis)similar to oneself ( social ), with effects in the here (far away; spatial ) and now (in the distant future; temporal ), and as (un)useful and (in)applicable in the real world …
Political ideology and trust in scientists in the USA
Psychological Distance to Science as a Predictor of Science Skepticism Across Domains
This article presents and tests psychological distance to science (PSYDISC) as a domain-general predictor of science skepticism. Drawing on the concept of psychological distance, PSYDISC reflects the extent to which individuals perceive science as a tangible undertaking conducted by people similar to oneself ( social), with effects in the here ( spatial) and now ( temporal), and as useful and applicable in the real world ( hypothetical distance).…
Is the Effect of Trust on Risk Perceptions a Matter of Knowledge, Control, and Time? An Extension and Direct-Replication Attempt of Siegrist and Cvetkovich (2000)
The complexity of societal risks such as pandemics, artificial intelligence, and climate change may lead laypeople to rely on experts and authorities when evaluating these threats. While Siegrist and Cvetkovich showed that competence-based trust in authorities correlates with perceived societal risks and benefits only when people feel unknowledgeable, recent research has yielded mixed support for this foundational work. To address this discrepanc…
Stereotypes and social evaluations of scientists are related to different antecedents and outcomes
Research on scientist perceptions tends to focus on either stereotypes (white, male) or social evaluations (competent but cold), sometimes yielding incongruent conclusions (e.g. scientists are simultaneously seen as moral and immoral). Across two preregistered correlational studies ( N = 1091), we address this issue by simultaneously assessing stereotypes and social evaluations and their association with two key outcomes: trust in scientists and …
A 27-country test of communicating the scientific consensus on climate change
Communicating the scientific consensus that human-caused climate change is real increases climate change beliefs, worry and support for public action in the United States. In this preregistered experiment, we tested two scientific consensus messages, a classic message on the reality of human-caused climate change and an updated message additionally emphasizing scientific agreement that climate change is a crisis. Across online convenience samples…
What do nonreligious nonbelievers believe in? Secular worldviews around the world
The global increase in nonreligious individuals begs for a better understanding of what nonreligious beliefs and worldviews actually entail. Rather than assuming an absence of belief or imposing a predetermined set of beliefs, this research uses an open-ended approach to investigate which secular beliefs and worldviews nonreligious nontheistic individuals in 10 countries around the world might endorse. Approximately, one thousand participants wer…
Who Is Skeptical About Scientific Innovation? Examining Worldview Predictors of Artificial Intelligence, Nanotechnology, and Human Gene Editing Attitudes
This work examines worldview predictors of attitudes toward nanotechnology, human gene editing (HGE), and artificial intelligence. By simultaneously assessing the relative predictive value of various worldview variables in two Dutch samples (total N = 614), we obtained evidence for spirituality as a key predictor of skepticism across domains. Religiosity consistently predicted HGE skepticism only. Lower faith in science contributed to these relat…
Science Skepticism Across 24 Countries
Efforts to understand and remedy the rejection of science are impeded by lack of insight into how it varies in degree and in kind around the world. The current work investigates science skepticism in 24 countries ( N = 5,973). Results show that while some countries stand out as generally high or low in skepticism, predictors of science skepticism are relatively similar across countries. One notable effect was consistent across countries though st…
Science rejection in Greece
Recent research has identified spirituality as an important contributor to vaccine scepticism and low faith in science, particularly in WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic) nations. In the present study, we further tested the generalizability of these findings in a religious South-Eastern European country – Greece, with more extensive measures of key constructs. We replicate previous work using measures of improved const…
The Einstein effect provides global evidence for scientific source credibility effects and the influence of religiosity
People tend to evaluate information from reliable sources more favourably, but it is unclear exactly how perceivers’ worldviews interact with this source credibility effect. In a large and diverse cross-cultural sample (N = 10,195 from 24 countries), we presented participants with obscure, meaningless statements attributed to either a spiritual guru or a scientist. We found a robust global source credibility effect for scientific authorities, whi…
Situational factors shape moral judgements in the trolley dilemma in Eastern, Southern and Western countries in a culturally diverse sample
A group processes approach to antiscience beliefs and endorsement of “alternative facts”
The global spread of antiscience beliefs, misinformation, fake news, and conspiracy theories is posing a threat to the well-being of individuals and societies worldwide. Accordingly, research on why people increasingly doubt science and endorse “alternative facts” is flourishing. Much of this work has focused on identifying cognitive biases and individual differences. Importantly, however, the reasons that lead people to question mainstream scien…
Science skepticism in times of Covid-19
In the current paper, we argue that to get a better understanding of the psychological antecedents of COVID-related science skepticism, it is pivotal to review what is known about the (social) psychology of science skepticism. Recent research highlighting the role of ideologies and worldviews in shaping science skepticism can inform research questions as well as pandemic responses to COVID-19. It is likely that the antecedents of general COVID-19…
Spiritual skepticism? Heterogeneous science skepticism in the Netherlands
Recent work points to the heterogeneous nature of science skepticism. However, most research on science skepticism has been conducted in the United States. The current work addresses the generalizability of the knowledge acquired so far by investigating individuals from a Western European country (The Netherlands). Results indicate that various previously reported findings hold up: Mirroring North American patterns, climate change skepticism is a…
Personal experience or cultural tradition
Denmark and the Netherlands are both countries with a Christian heritage, where only a minority of the population are actively religious. Behind the similarities, there are also striking differences. While Danish Christians tend to be largely nominal members, Dutch Christians are more likely to believe in God, pray and attend church regularly. Previous research has highlighted insecurity as a source of national differences in religiosity. In this…
Development and Validation of a Porous Theory of Mind Scale
We report the results of an empirical investigation of the extent to which supernatural believers endorse a porous conception of the mind, i.e., the belief that one’s thoughts can be directly perceived by others. We developed a porous theory of mind (PToM) scale, tested its factor structure by using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and showed its relation with supernatural beliefs in three studies in the Netherlands and one stud…
Attitudes Towards Science
As science continues to progress, attitudes toward science seem to become ever more polarized. Whereas some put their faith in science, others routinely reject and dismiss scientific evidence. This chapter provides an integration of recent research on how people evaluate science. We organize our chapter along three research topics that are most relevant to this goal: ideology, motivation, and morality. We review the relations of political and rel…
Belief Systems and the Perception of Reality
This book focuses on the social psychology of belief systems and how they influence perceptions of reality. These belief systems, from politics to religion to science, not only shape one’s thoughts and views but also can be the cause of conflict and disagreement over values, particularly when they are enacted in political policies. In Belief Systems and the Perceptions of Reality, editors Bastiaan T. Rutjens and Mark J. Brandt examine the social …
Not All Skepticism Is Equal
Many topics that scientists investigate speak to people's ideological worldviews. We report three studies-including an analysis of large-scale survey data-in which we systematically investigate the ideological antecedents of general faith in science and willingness to support science, as well as of science skepticism of climate change, vaccination, and genetic modification (GM). The main predictors are religiosity and political orientation, moral…
Ambivalence and decisional conflict as a cause of psychological discomfort
Ambivalence and decisional conflict as a cause of psychological discomfort: Feeling tense before jumping off the fence
Science skepticism in times of Covid-19
In the current paper, we argue that to get a better understanding of the psychological antecedents of COVID-related science skepticism, it is pivotal to review what is known about the (social) psychology of science skepticism. Recent research highlighting the role of ideologies and worldviews in shaping science skepticism can inform research questions as well as pandemic responses to COVID-19. It is likely that the antecedents of general COVID-19…
Deus or Darwin
A simple reminder of the fact that we do not always control life's outcomes reduced people's belief in Darwin's Theory of Evolution. This control-threat resulted in a relative preference for theories of life that thwart randomness, either by stressing the role of a controlling God (Intelligent Design) or by presenting the Theory of Evolution in terms of predictable and orderly processes. Moreover, increased preference for Intelligent Design over …
The society-supporting self
Justifying social systems and defending cultural worldviews may seem to resemble the same human need to protect what is known and predictable. The current paper would like to argue that these society-supporting tendencies concern two different forms of self-regulation: the need for control and the need for meaning. Results show higher levels of system justification when participants were lacking control than when they had to think about death or …
In or out? How the perceived morality (vs. competence) of prospective group members affects acceptance and rejection
When is an individual likely to be accepted or rejected by a group? This research investigates responses towards prospective group members depending on how they compare to the group in terms of their perceived morality or competence. Because morality is of particular importance to groups, we hypothesized that the perceived morality of prospective group members has more impact on the group's tendency to accept versus reject them than their compete…
Why Are Protestants More Prosocial Than Catholics? A Comparative Study Among Orthodox Dutch Believers
The present study sheds light on the contentious relation between religions and prosociality by comparing self-reported altruistic and prosocial behavior among a group of Catholic and Protestant believers. We found that denomination was strongly related to strength of religious beliefs, afterlife beliefs, free-will beliefs, and self-reported prosocial behavior. Denominational differences between Catholics and Protestants in self-reported prosocia…
The Einstein effect provides global evidence for scientific source credibility effects and the influence of religiosity
People tend to evaluate information from reliable sources more favourably, but it is unclear exactly how perceivers’ worldviews interact with this source credibility effect. In a large and diverse cross-cultural sample (N = 10,195 from 24 countries), we presented participants with obscure, meaningless statements attributed to either a spiritual guru or a scientist. We found a robust global source credibility effect for scientific authorities, whi…
Situational factors shape moral judgements in the trolley dilemma in Eastern, Southern and Western countries in a culturally diverse sample
A group processes approach to antiscience beliefs and endorsement of “alternative facts”
The global spread of antiscience beliefs, misinformation, fake news, and conspiracy theories is posing a threat to the well-being of individuals and societies worldwide. Accordingly, research on why people increasingly doubt science and endorse “alternative facts” is flourishing. Much of this work has focused on identifying cognitive biases and individual differences. Importantly, however, the reasons that lead people to question mainstream scien…
Psychological Distance to Science Affects Science Evaluations
In four experiments (three preregistered; N total = 4511), we investigated the influence of psychological distance to science (PSYDISC) on science evaluations. PSYDISC reflects the extent to which science is perceived as an (in)tangible undertaking conducted by people (dis)similar to oneself ( social ), with effects in the here (far away; spatial ) and now (in the distant future; temporal ), and as (un)useful and (in)applicable in the real world …
Who Is Skeptical About Scientific Innovation? Examining Worldview Predictors of Artificial Intelligence, Nanotechnology, and Human Gene Editing Attitudes
This work examines worldview predictors of attitudes toward nanotechnology, human gene editing (HGE), and artificial intelligence. By simultaneously assessing the relative predictive value of various worldview variables in two Dutch samples (total N = 614), we obtained evidence for spirituality as a key predictor of skepticism across domains. Religiosity consistently predicted HGE skepticism only. Lower faith in science contributed to these relat…
Affirming belief in scientific progress reduces environmentally friendly behaviour
Many people are reluctant to behave in environmentally friendly ways. One possible explanation might be that the motivation to behave in environmentally friendly ways is undermined by the way scientific progress is overstated in the popular media. Four experiments show that portraying science as rapidly progressing—and thus enabling society to control problems related to the natural environment and human health in the not‐too‐distant future—is de…
The Postself and Terror Management Theory
In contemporary secular societies, ideas of an afterlife have become quite diverse, ranging from secular to religious and spiritual conceptions. In this article, an experimental study is reported in which the postself, a person's imagination of an after-death reputation, is tested as a protective buffer against mortality salience effects within a largely secular sample of participants. Before inducing mortality salience, the postself was affirmed…
Associations Between Perceived Societal Polarisation and (Extreme) Non‐Normative Attitudes and Behaviour
Perceptions of societal polarisation in a country may influence individuals’ willingness to engage in non(normative) collective action. In the present research, we test the hypothesis that perceived societal polarisation reduces trust in the government, particularly when the government is perceived as posing a threat to the own social group. In turn, we expect increased willingness to engage in collective action on behalf of the ingroup. To test …
Political ideology and trust in scientists in the USA
A 27-country test of communicating the scientific consensus on climate change
Communicating the scientific consensus that human-caused climate change is real increases climate change beliefs, worry and support for public action in the United States. In this preregistered experiment, we tested two scientific consensus messages, a classic message on the reality of human-caused climate change and an updated message additionally emphasizing scientific agreement that climate change is a crisis. Across online convenience samples…
Development and Validation of a Porous Theory of Mind Scale
We report the results of an empirical investigation of the extent to which supernatural believers endorse a porous conception of the mind, i.e., the belief that one’s thoughts can be directly perceived by others. We developed a porous theory of mind (PToM) scale, tested its factor structure by using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and showed its relation with supernatural beliefs in three studies in the Netherlands and one stud…
Ambivalence and decisional conflict as a cause of psychological discomfort
Ambivalence and decisional conflict as a cause of psychological discomfort: Feeling tense before jumping off the fence
Yes We Can
The present research shows that belief in progress helps to alleviate the aversive experience of low levels of control. When control is low, believing in progress provides people with the promise of future control in a broader sense. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants lacking control disagreed more with an essay on the illusory nature of human progress. Experiment 3 corroborated these findings in a field study comparing airplane passengers with…
Meaning Making and Death in a Secular Society
This article focuses on the relation between death and religion in a secularized society. In the Netherlands, traditional religious membership has declined significantly together with traditional belief systems. This study investigates the relation between the experience of death and religious affiliation (unaffiliated, Catholic, and Protestant) in relation to meaning making. Parts of a nationwide survey study (n = 1212) are analyzed in order to …
The society-supporting self
Justifying social systems and defending cultural worldviews may seem to resemble the same human need to protect what is known and predictable. The current paper would like to argue that these society-supporting tendencies concern two different forms of self-regulation: the need for control and the need for meaning. Results show higher levels of system justification when participants were lacking control than when they had to think about death or …
Deus or Darwin
A simple reminder of the fact that we do not always control life's outcomes reduced people's belief in Darwin's Theory of Evolution. This control-threat resulted in a relative preference for theories of life that thwart randomness, either by stressing the role of a controlling God (Intelligent Design) or by presenting the Theory of Evolution in terms of predictable and orderly processes. Moreover, increased preference for Intelligent Design over …
Weighty Matters
Previous work showed that concrete experiences of weight influence people’s judgments of how important certain issues are. In line with an embodied simulation account but contrary to a metaphor-enriched perspective, this work shows that perceived importance of an object influences perceptions of weight. Two studies manipulated information about a book’s importance, after which, participants estimated its weight. Importance information caused part…
The Postself and Terror Management Theory
In contemporary secular societies, ideas of an afterlife have become quite diverse, ranging from secular to religious and spiritual conceptions. In this article, an experimental study is reported in which the postself, a person's imagination of an after-death reputation, is tested as a protective buffer against mortality salience effects within a largely secular sample of participants. Before inducing mortality salience, the postself was affirmed…
When Death is Good for Life
Research derived from terror management theory (TMT) has shown that people’s efforts to manage the awareness of death often have deleterious consequences for the individual and society. The present article takes a closer look at the conceptual foundations of TMT and considers some of the more beneficial trajectories of the terror management process. The awareness of mortality can motivate people to enhance their physical health and prioritize gro…
A March to a Better World? Religiosity and the Existential Function of Belief in Social-Moral Progress
This article reports an investigation of the existential function of belief in progress, specifically faith in social and moral advancement. We argue that for belief in progress to provide a sense of purpose and significance in our world, it must concern humanity and society and not merely the technological advances humankind accomplishes. We observed an effect of mortality salience on belief in social-moral (but not scientific-technological) pro…
Affirming belief in scientific progress reduces environmentally friendly behaviour
Many people are reluctant to behave in environmentally friendly ways. One possible explanation might be that the motivation to behave in environmentally friendly ways is undermined by the way scientific progress is overstated in the popular media. Four experiments show that portraying science as rapidly progressing—and thus enabling society to control problems related to the natural environment and human health in the not‐too‐distant future—is de…
Priming of supernatural agent concepts and agency detection
In evolutionary approaches to religion it is argued that belief in supernatural agents is strongly related to a perceptual bias to over-detect the presence of agents in the environment. We report five experiments that investigate whether processing concepts about supernatural agents facilitates agency detection. Participants were presented with point-light stimuli representing unscrambled or scrambled biological motion, or with pictures of unscra…
Why Are Protestants More Prosocial Than Catholics? A Comparative Study Among Orthodox Dutch Believers
The present study sheds light on the contentious relation between religions and prosociality by comparing self-reported altruistic and prosocial behavior among a group of Catholic and Protestant believers. We found that denomination was strongly related to strength of religious beliefs, afterlife beliefs, free-will beliefs, and self-reported prosocial behavior. Denominational differences between Catholics and Protestants in self-reported prosocia…
Not All Skepticism Is Equal
Many topics that scientists investigate speak to people's ideological worldviews. We report three studies-including an analysis of large-scale survey data-in which we systematically investigate the ideological antecedents of general faith in science and willingness to support science, as well as of science skepticism of climate change, vaccination, and genetic modification (GM). The main predictors are religiosity and political orientation, moral…
In or out? How the perceived morality (vs. competence) of prospective group members affects acceptance and rejection
When is an individual likely to be accepted or rejected by a group? This research investigates responses towards prospective group members depending on how they compare to the group in terms of their perceived morality or competence. Because morality is of particular importance to groups, we hypothesized that the perceived morality of prospective group members has more impact on the group's tendency to accept versus reject them than their compete…
Attitudes Towards Science
As science continues to progress, attitudes toward science seem to become ever more polarized. Whereas some put their faith in science, others routinely reject and dismiss scientific evidence. This chapter provides an integration of recent research on how people evaluate science. We organize our chapter along three research topics that are most relevant to this goal: ideology, motivation, and morality. We review the relations of political and rel…
Belief Systems and the Perception of Reality
This book focuses on the social psychology of belief systems and how they influence perceptions of reality. These belief systems, from politics to religion to science, not only shape one’s thoughts and views but also can be the cause of conflict and disagreement over values, particularly when they are enacted in political policies. In Belief Systems and the Perceptions of Reality, editors Bastiaan T. Rutjens and Mark J. Brandt examine the social …
Spiritual skepticism? Heterogeneous science skepticism in the Netherlands
Recent work points to the heterogeneous nature of science skepticism. However, most research on science skepticism has been conducted in the United States. The current work addresses the generalizability of the knowledge acquired so far by investigating individuals from a Western European country (The Netherlands). Results indicate that various previously reported findings hold up: Mirroring North American patterns, climate change skepticism is a…
Personal experience or cultural tradition
Denmark and the Netherlands are both countries with a Christian heritage, where only a minority of the population are actively religious. Behind the similarities, there are also striking differences. While Danish Christians tend to be largely nominal members, Dutch Christians are more likely to believe in God, pray and attend church regularly. Previous research has highlighted insecurity as a source of national differences in religiosity. In this…
Development and Validation of a Porous Theory of Mind Scale
We report the results of an empirical investigation of the extent to which supernatural believers endorse a porous conception of the mind, i.e., the belief that one’s thoughts can be directly perceived by others. We developed a porous theory of mind (PToM) scale, tested its factor structure by using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and showed its relation with supernatural beliefs in three studies in the Netherlands and one stud…
A group processes approach to antiscience beliefs and endorsement of “alternative facts”
The global spread of antiscience beliefs, misinformation, fake news, and conspiracy theories is posing a threat to the well-being of individuals and societies worldwide. Accordingly, research on why people increasingly doubt science and endorse “alternative facts” is flourishing. Much of this work has focused on identifying cognitive biases and individual differences. Importantly, however, the reasons that lead people to question mainstream scien…
Science skepticism in times of Covid-19
In the current paper, we argue that to get a better understanding of the psychological antecedents of COVID-related science skepticism, it is pivotal to review what is known about the (social) psychology of science skepticism. Recent research highlighting the role of ideologies and worldviews in shaping science skepticism can inform research questions as well as pandemic responses to COVID-19. It is likely that the antecedents of general COVID-19…
Science Skepticism Across 24 Countries
Efforts to understand and remedy the rejection of science are impeded by lack of insight into how it varies in degree and in kind around the world. The current work investigates science skepticism in 24 countries ( N = 5,973). Results show that while some countries stand out as generally high or low in skepticism, predictors of science skepticism are relatively similar across countries. One notable effect was consistent across countries though st…
Science rejection in Greece
Recent research has identified spirituality as an important contributor to vaccine scepticism and low faith in science, particularly in WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic) nations. In the present study, we further tested the generalizability of these findings in a religious South-Eastern European country – Greece, with more extensive measures of key constructs. We replicate previous work using measures of improved const…
The Einstein effect provides global evidence for scientific source credibility effects and the influence of religiosity
People tend to evaluate information from reliable sources more favourably, but it is unclear exactly how perceivers’ worldviews interact with this source credibility effect. In a large and diverse cross-cultural sample (N = 10,195 from 24 countries), we presented participants with obscure, meaningless statements attributed to either a spiritual guru or a scientist. We found a robust global source credibility effect for scientific authorities, whi…
Situational factors shape moral judgements in the trolley dilemma in Eastern, Southern and Western countries in a culturally diverse sample
Psychology (35 obras) · Social Psychology (32 obras) · Epistemology (19 obras) · Philosophy (15 obras) · Political science (14 obras) · Sociology (14 obras) · Law (12 obras) · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment (12 obras) · Social and Intergroup Psychology (12 obras) · Social Psychology (12 obras)