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Average intelligence predicts atheism rates across 137 nations

Richard Lynn

⁎

, John Harvey

, Helmuth Nyborg

University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

1 Drove Cottages, Rodmell, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 3HD, England, United Kingdom

University of Aarhus, (1968

–

2007), Denmark

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history:

Received 3 January 2008Received in revised form 12 February 2008Accepted 18 March 2008Available online 29 April 2008

Evidence is reviewed pointing to a negative relationship between intelligence and religiousbelief in the UnitedStatesand Europe.It isshownthat intelligence measuredas psychometric

is negatively related to religious belief. We also examine whether this negative relationshipbetweenintelligenceandreligiousbeliefispresentbetweennations.We

ﬁ

Keywords:

ReligionIQ

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112. Intelligence and religious belief within nations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112.1. (1) Negative correlations between intelligence and religious belief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122.2. (2) Lower percentages holding religious beliefs among intelligence elites compared with the general population . . . . . 122.3. (3) Decline of religious belief with age among children and adolescents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122.4. (4) Decline of religious belief during the course of the twentieth century as the intelligence of the population has increased . . 123. Religious belief and psychometric

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134. Intelligence and religious belief between nations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135. Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Appendix A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

1. Introduction

Dawkins' (2006)recent book

The God Delusion

suggeststhat it is not intelligent to believe in the existence of God.In thispaper we examine (1) the evidence for this contention,i.e.forwhetherthereis anegativerelationshipbetweenintel-ligenceandreligiousbelief;(2)whetherthenegativerelation-shipbetweenintelligenceandreligiousbeliefisadifferenceinPsychometric

;and(3)whetherthereisnegativerelationshipbetween intelligence and religious belief between nations.

2. Intelligence and religious belief within nations

We are by no means the

ﬁ

rst to suggest the existence of a negative relationship between intelligence and religiousbelief within nations. This phenomenon was observed in the1920s byHowells (1928)andSinclair (1928), who both reported studies showing negative correlations between intel-ligence and religious belief among college students of

−

.27,

Intelligence 37 (2009) 11

–

⁎

Corresponding author.

E-mail address:

Lynnr540@aol.com(R. Lynn).0160-2896/$

–

Contents lists available atScienceDirect

Intelligence

and

−

.29 to

−

.36 (using different measures of religious belief).In the 1950sArgyle (1958)concluded that

“

intelligent stu-dents are much less likely to accept orthodox beliefs, andrather less likely to have pro-religious attitudes

”

.Evidence pointing to a negative relationship between in-telligence and religious belief within nations comes fromfoursources.Theseare(1)negativecorrelationsbetweenintel-ligence and religious belief; (2) lower percentages holdingreligious beliefs among intelligence elites compared with thegeneral population: (3) a decline of religious belief with ageamong children and adolescents as their cognitive abilitiesincrease; (4) a decline of religious belief during the course of the twentieth century as the intelligence of populations hasincreased.

2.1. (1) Negative correlations between intelligence and religiousbelief

A number of studies

ﬁ

nd negative correlations betweenintelligence and religious belief. A review of these carried outbyBell (2002)found 43 studies, of which all but four founda negative correlation. To these can be added a study in theNetherlands of a nationally representative sample (total

=1538) that reported that agnostics scored 4 IQs higher thanbelievers (Verhage,1964). In a more recent studyKanazawa (in press)has analysed the data of the American National Long-itudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a national sample ini-tially tested for intelligence with the PPVT (Peabody PictureVocabulary Test) as adolescents and interviewed as youngadultsin2001

–

=14,277).Atthisinterviewtheywereasked:

“

Towhatextentareyouareligiousperson?

”

Theresponseswerecoded

“

not religious at all

”

“

slightly religious

”

“

moderatelyreligious

”

,and

“

veryreligious

”

.Theresultsshowedthatthe

“

notreligious at all

”

group had the highest IQ (103.09), followed indescending order by the other three groups (IQs=99.34, 98.28,97.14).TherelationshipbetweenIQandreligiousbeliefishighlysigni

ﬁ

cant (

(3,14273)=78.0381,

.00001).

2.2. (2) Lower percentages holding religious beliefs among intelligence elites compared with the general population

In corroboration of these studies

ﬁ

nding negative correla-tionsbetweenintelligenceandreligiousbeliefisevidencecom-paringthepercentagesofreligiousbelieversamongintelligenceelitescomparedwiththegeneralpopulation.Thiswasshownasearly as 1921 in a survey of the religious beliefs of eminentAmerican scientists and scholars that reported that 39% statedthattheybelievedinGod(witharangeof48%amonghistoriansto 24% among psychologists) (Leuba,1921). It was reported byRoe(1965)thatamongagroupof64eminentscientists,61were

“

indifferenttoreligion

”

,leavingapproximately4.8%asreligiousbelievers. These are much lower than the percentage religiousbelievers in the population among whom 95.5% in the UnitedStates stated that they believed in God in a 1948 Gallup Poll(Argyle,1958).Inthe1990sastudyofmembersoftheAmericanNational Academy of Sciences reported that 7% believed in theexistenceofGod,ascomparedwithapproximately90%foundina poll of the general population(Larsen & Witham, 1998). In Britain, it has been reported that 3.3% of Fellows of the RoyalSociety believed in the existence of God, while 78.8% did notbelieve (the remainder being undecided) (Dawkins, 2006). Atthe same time a poll showed that 68.5% of the generalpopulation believed in the existence of God.

2.3. (3) Decline of religious belief with age among children andadolescents

Also consistent with the negative correlation betweenintelligence and religious belief is the decline in religiousbelief during adolescence and into adulthood as cognitiveability increases. This has been found in the United States forthe agerange of 12

–

18 year olds byKuhlen and Arnold (1944)who reported that among 12 year olds 94% endorsed thestatement

“

Ibelieve there is a God

”

, whileamong18 yearoldsthis had fallen to 78%. Similarly, in EnglandFrancis (1989)hasfound a decline in religious belief over the age range 5

–

16 years. Religious belief was measured by a scale consistingof questions like

“

God means a lot to me

”

and

“

I think thatpeople who pray are stupid

”

, etc., and the scores on the scaleare shown in abbreviated form inTable 1.The

ﬁ

nding thatgirls score higher than boys has frequently been found (seee.g.Argyle,1958). In another study, among 12

–

15 year olds ata Protestant school in Northern Ireland, favourable attitudesto religion fell steadily and signi

ﬁ

cantly (

.001) with eachyearofagebyapproximately0.75ofastandarddeviationoverthe4yearperiod,whilethecorrelationsbetweenafavourableattitude to religion and IQ turned increasingly and signi

ﬁ

-cantly negative (

.001) (Turner, 1980). These results aresummarized inTable 2. (These trends were less clear for aRoman Catholic school).

2.4. (4)Declineofreligiousbeliefduringthecourseofthetwentiethcentury as the intelligence of the population has increased

There is evidence for a decline of religious belief duringthe course of the last 150 or so years, while at the same timethe intelligence of the population has increased. The increasein intelligence is a well-documented phenomenon that hasbecome known as the Flynn effect. The decline of religiousbelief has been shown bystatistics for church attendance andfor belief in God recorded in opinion polls. For instance, inEnglandselfreportedweeklyattendanceatchurchservicesincensus returns (these numbers may be exaggerated) declinedfrom 40% of the population in 1850, to 35% in 1900, to 20% in

Table 1

Decline in percentage holding religious belief, with age (Francis,1989)Age

Boys Girls5

–

6 400 87.9 96.011

–

12 400 79.6 84.115

–

16 400 55.7 70.4

Table 2

Declining belief correlates with age (sd=15.6)(Turner,1980)Age

Belief (%)

: non-beliefxIQ 12 50 69.54 0.18313 50 66.10 0.11014 50 59.86

−

0.11315 50 57.94

−

0.354

⁎⁎

Signi

ﬁ

cant at

.01.12

R. Lynn et al. / Intelligence 37 (2009) 11

–

1950, to 10% in 1990 (Giddens, 1997,p.460); Church of England Easter week communicants declined from 9% of thepopulation in 1900 to 5% in 1970 (Argyle & Beit-Hallahmi,1975); the attendance of children at Sunday schools declinedfrom 30% of the child population in 1900 to 13% in 1960(Goldman,1965). In Gallup Polls 72% of the population statedin 1950 that they believed in God (Argyle,1958), but by 2004this had fallen to 58.5% (Zuckerman, 2007).There hasalso beensome decline of religious beliefduringthecourseofthelastcenturyintheUnitedStates.Hoge(1974)has reviewed several surveys that have found a decline of religious belief in college students. For instance, students atBryn Mawr were asked whether they believed in a God whoanswered prayers. Positive responses were given by 42% of students in 1894, 31% in 1933, and 19% in 1968. Students en-rolling at the Universityof Michiganwere invitedto providea

“

religiouspreference

”

.In1896,86%ofstudentsdidso;in1930this had dropped to 70%, and in 1968 it had dropped to 44%.AtHarvard,Radcliffe,WilliamsandLosAnglesCityCollegethepercentages of students who believed in God, prayed daily orfairly frequently, and attended church about once a week alldeclined from 1946 to 1966.Heath (1969)has also reported adecline in belief in God among college students from 79% in1948 to 58% in 1968. Among the general population, GallupPolls have found that 95.5% stated that they believed in Godin 1948 (Argyle, 1958), but by 2004 this had fallen to 89.5%(Zuckerman, 2007).

3. Religious belief and psychometric

To determine whether there is negative relation betweenreligious belief and Psychometric

(the general factor inintelligence),thedatafromtheNationalLongitudinalStudyof Youth (NLSY97) have been analysed. The NLSY97 is a nationalsample selected to represent approximately 15 million Amer-ican adolescents in the age range of 12

–

17 years in 1997. Thesubjects (

=6825) were asked about current religiouspreferences in addition and took the Computer Adaptiveform of the ArmedServices Vocational Aptitude Battery (CAT-ASVAB97). This test consists of twelve scales (10 power and 2speeded). These were analysed in terms of Raschian prob-abilistic modelling and the resulting one-dimensional scalecorrelated .992 (Psychometric

) with general intelligence,

,(Principal Axis Factor Analysis (

(

−

2)=662.62;

.000).Atheists scored 6

-IQ equivalent points higher than thecombined group of subjects professing to one or another of alarge number of different religions. The difference in generalintelligence among atheists and believers was signi

ﬁ

cantevenwithout using weighted data (

(1, 6.893)=2.87;

=.004)

4. Intelligence and religious belief between nations

To investigate the relationship between intelligence andreligious belief between nations we have taken the IQs of nations given inLynn and Vanhanen's (2006)

IQ and GlobalInequality

. This source shows that these national IQs havehigh reliability, as shown by the correlation of .92 betweendifferent measures, and high validity, as shown by the cor-relationof.83betweentheIQsandeducationalattainment.Thehigh reliability and validity of these national IQs have beencon

ﬁ

rmed byRindermann (2007). We have taken

ﬁ

gures forbelief in God fromZuckerman (2007)who gives data for 137countries representing justover 95% of the world's population.These data were collected from surveys mostly carried out in2004, although in a few countries the surveys were a year ortwo earlier. Zuckerman collated these data from a number of differentsurveysinordertoprovideresultsthatwereasup-to-date as possible

Where he published more than one surveyresult for a given country we took the most recent one wherethis was indicated, but averaged them out where it was not.

Zuckerman

ﬁ

gures consist of the percentages saying thattheydisbelievedinGod,ratherthanthemorefrequentquestionasking for belief in God. Zuckerman draws attention to fourproblems associated with this data set. These are possible lowresponserates,weaknessesinrandomsampleselection,regimeor peer pressure in

ﬂ

uencing responses and problems of terminological variation between cultures over words such as

‘

religious

’

‘

secular

’

. Despite these possible sources of errorhowever Zuckerman urges acceptance of the data by quotingRobert Putnam to the effect that

“

we must make do with theimperfect evidence that we can

ﬁ

nd, not merely lament itsde

ﬁ

ciencies.

”

The data for the national IQs and percentages assertingdisbelief in God for the 137 countries are given in theAppendix A. It will be seen that in only 17% of the countries(23 out of 137) does the proportion of the population whodisbelieve in God rise above 20%. These are virtually all thehigher IQ countries.The correlations between the national IQs and religiousdisbelief are given inTable 3. Row 1 gives the correlation of 0.60 for the total sample and is highly statistically signi

ﬁ

cant(

.001).Toexaminewhetherthisrelationshipholdsacrossthewhole range of national IQs we have divided the nations intotwogroupsofthosewithIQsbetween64

–

86andthosewithIQsbetween87

–

108.Row2givesthedataforthe69countrieswithIQs between 64

–

86. In this group only 1.95% of the populationare non-believers. There is a range between

1% and 40%, andthe correlation between the two variables is only 0.16. Row 3gives the dataforthe68countries withIQs between87

–

108.Inthisgroup19.99%ofthepopulationdisbelieveinGod.Thereisarange between

1% and 81%, and the correlation between thetwovariablesisonly0.54(

.001).Thus,mostofthevariationinreligious disbelief is among the higher IQ nations.

5. Discussion

The results raise four points of interest. First, the hypoth-esis with which we began this study was that there is a neg-ative correlation between IQ and religious belief. We havereviewed considerable evidence for this negative relationshipamong individuals in the United States and Europe and haveadded a new data set con

ﬁ

rming this. Second, we haveshown that the negative relationship between intelligence

Table 3

Correlations between the national IQs and religious disbelief Iqs

countries Non-believers Range non-believers

: non-beliefxIQ 64

–

108 137 10.69%

1% to 81% +0.6064

–

86 69 1.95%

1% to 40% +0.1687

–

108 68 16.99%

1% to 81% +0.5413

R. Lynn et al. / Intelligence 37 (2009) 11

–

of 00

Average intelligence predicts atheism rates across 137 nations; Lynn et al

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