[QUOTE="vieras.";29257832]"Tutkimuksen mukaan esimerkiksi sukupuoli tai koulutustaso eivät vaikuttaneet älykkyyden ja uskonnollisuuden väliseen yhteyteen.
Yksi selitys on se, että koska uskonnolliset uskomukset ovat irrationaalisia, ne eivät perustu tieteeseen eikä niitä voi testata, ne eivät houkuttele älykkäitä ihmisiä."
Pätkä Aamulehden linkin tutkimusta koskevasta uutisesta.[/QUOTE]
Ja tässä lisää selityksiä tuolta sivulta, johon laitoin jo linkin aikaisemmin.
why do more intelligent people appear to be less religious? There are three possible explanations. One possibility is that more intelligent people are less likely to conform and, thus, are more likely to resist religious dogma. A 1992 meta-analysis of seven studies found that intelligent people may be more likely to become atheists when they live in religious societies, because intelligent people tend to be nonconformists.
The most common explanation is that intelligent people dont like to accept any beliefs that are not subject to empirical tests or logical reasoning. Zuckerman writes in the review that intelligent people may think more analytically, which is controlled, systematic, and slow, as opposed to intuitively, which is heuristic-based, mostly non-conscious, and fast." That analytical thinking leads to lower religiosity.
The final explanation is that intelligence provides whatever functions religion does for believers. There are four such functions as proposed by Zuckerman, Silberman, and Hall.
First, religion provides people a sense of control. This was demonstrated in a series of studies conducted between 2008 and 2010, which showed that threatening volunteers sense of personal control increased their belief in God. This may be because people believe that God makes the world more predictable and thus less threatening. Much like believing in God, higher intelligence has been shown to grant people more self-efficacy, which is the belief in ones ability to achieve goals. So, if intelligent people have more control, then perhaps they dont need religion in the same way that others do.
Second, religion provides self-regulation. In a 2009 study, it was shown that religion was associated with better well-being. This was interpreted as an indication that religious people were more disciplined in pursuing goals and deferring small rewards for large ones. Separately, a 2008 meta-analysis noted that intelligent people were less impulsive. Delayed gratification may require better working memory, which intelligent people have. So, just like before, intelligence is acting as a substitute for religion, helping people delay gratification without needing divine interventions.
Third, religion provides self-enhancement. A 1997 meta-analysis compared the intrinsically religious, who privately believe in the supernatural, to the extrinsically religious, where people are merely part of a religious group without believing in God. The intrinsically religious felt better about themselves than the general public. Similarly, intelligent people have been shown to have a sense of higher self-worth. Again, intelligence may be providing something that religion does.
Last, and possibly the most intriguing, is that religion provides attachment. Religious people often claim to have a personal relationship with God. They use God as an anchor when faced with the loss of a loved one or a broken relationship. Turns out intelligent people find their anchor in people by building relationships. Studies have found that those who score highly on measures of intelligence are more likely to be married and less likely to get divorced. Thus, intelligent people have less need to seek religion as a substitute for companionship.