Testing the Relative Influence of Three Key Factors in Mind-Based Models of Religion

Template Categories, Utility, and Threat

Bibliographic Data

ID12823116
AuthorsS Fleming (University of New Hampshire, corresponding author), P Robertson (0000-0002-9422-8916, University of New Hampshire), Daniel Turek (0000-0002-1453-1908, Lafayette College), Ömer Dağlar Tanrıkulu (0000-0003-1008-866X, University of New Hampshire)
Year2025
Volume25
Issue1-2
Pages159-181
Publication date2025-02-12
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Cognition and Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1567-7095 • E-ISSN: 1568-5373
PublisherBrill (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1163/15685373-12340205
OpenAlexW4407799651
LanguageEN
References cited13

The traditional Cognitive Science of Religion ( CSR ) mind-based model suggests that humans understand the world through ontological categories and make socially strategic inferences to avoid threats and focus on utility. This study used an image choice task to test three key factors – category templates, threat, and utility – believed to influence people’s preferences within the CSR framework. The study had three main goals: (1) to refine previous CSR research by providing a more accurate, empirically scaled measure of these three factors using the image choice task; (2) to assess how each factor affected participants’ image preferences; and (3) to explore any interactions between these factors. In a pilot study, we first quantified the threat and utility levels for each image stimulus. Our main study found that, contrary to some previous findings, category templates significantly influenced image preferences, though not in the hierarchy proposed by traditional CSR models. Threat and utility also had independent, significant effects on preferences. However, category templates had the strongest influence on participant choices. The effects of threat and utility varied depending on whether the influence of category templates was accounted for. These findings support certain CSR theories but challenge the proposed hierarchical structure. We also confirmed some previous findings, clarified the relative impact of the three factors, and provided empirical measures of template typicality, utility, and threat for future research

Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Computer security · Epistemology · Key (lock · Metaphysics · Philosophy of language · Philosophy of mind · Computer Science · Philosophy · Psychology · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Study and Philosophy of Religion

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