Presentation at the IAPR Congress Bari 2011 By Dr George Varvatsoulias CPsychol CSci BA, BSc, MTh, MA, PhD

Evolutionary Psychology of Religion (1)

The semantic role of evolution and religion for the interpretation of human mind and behaviour in psychological terms It is the new scientific paradigm, which lays weight on both evolution and religion. Religion is not subjected to evolution as an issue of cultural importance, but as a cognitive perspective, which has helped the course of evolution in individual and societal terms

Evolutionary Psychology of Religion (2)

The religious phenomenon is not only regarded as a manifestation of human cognitive abilities, but as a contributor to the course of evolution via investigating the aforesaid in terms of the religious development of human species Religion is the subject-matter of this new paradigm, the scope of which is to identify perspectives of religious psychological importance that are applicable to the course of human evolution

The meaning of counterintuition

Counter-intuition is the birth-child of human inquiring mind; counter-intuition is the counter-rational pathway to the interpretation of the inexplicable Counter-intuition depends on: The violation of common-sense expectations which defy logical or formal sequence of thinking Beliefs in ideas and principles which do not rely on cogent evidence Explanations to the natural world via inferences of complex representations

Evolutionary issues of counter-intuition

Counter-intuition approaches complex evolutionary issues, such as life and death, which set cognitive, emotional, and material conditions for ordinary human interactions Counter-intuition refers to naturally selected objects, and/or phenomena which if animated can meta-represent adaptively selected issues in a meta-cognitive way in order to answer questions associated to the need for survival

Commitment to the importance of counterintuitive notions

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Believers recall and transmit information to future generations: e.g. the story of Jesus Believers adhere to particular belief systems even if such systems contradict to social values: e.g. veil ban Believers generate narratives of religious events and principles, so the faith system to become more understandable to the public: e.g. sermons and talks at congregations Believers look for individuals able to lead them spiritually: e.g. ordination, priesthood

Counterintuitive concepts
These are concepts where logic is unable to provide a certain reasoning to explaining them God as Trinity Incarnation Afterlife Salvation ...however, the mind employs algorithms pertaining to spirituality where concepts such as the above to be counter-intuitively approached

Massive Counterintuition
Religion: A system incorporating personal, interpersonal, behavioural, social, and ingroup issues of belonging and identity Morality: The unwritten law. Mores and values of a particular religious affiliation with considerable impact to a society. Accepting principles of collective consciousness Ethics: Incorporating and applying religious mores to a countrys legislative system

Minimally counterintuitive ideas

Religious beliefs: Cognitive ideas aimed at agency detection: God is the Creator of the world Religious rituals: Employing special sorts of environmental stimuli to identify the existence of invisible entities Religious artifacts: The use of religious material so the faithful to feel connected to God. These are especially commissioned from people of the Church and administered to congregations for an interlinking relationship between the created and the Creator

Adaptedness of counterintuitive concepts

The origin of counter-intuition lies with the human mind, so what has been selected for to solve adaptive problems relates to applicability of ideas able to contribute to solutions One of such cluster of ideas is counterintuition in terms of suggesting answers to questions remaining unanswered We could assume that counterintuitive concepts are spandrels co-opted to provide solutions to already existing adaptive problems

The relationship of counterintuition to survival

Evolutionary explanations to survival relate to reproduction and fitness maximisation and vice versa Religious beliefs have a positive impact on affiliation to a congregation, on an individuals sense of belonging, on in-group coalitions, on meeting-up with others of the same framework of mind Religious beliefs promote reproductive strategies towards fitness maximisation: the necessity of marriage, bringing-up children, becoming a parent, enhancing parentoffspring relationship as God himself does towards humans

Rationale and Hypothesis of the study

The understanding of the survival principle according to the cognitive psychological importance of counterintuitive beliefs Counterintuitive beliefs deal with everyday adaptive problems and serve human survival needs

Method (1)
Participants: A random sampling of 100 participants will take part in this study 50 males, 50 females. Participants will be recruited from four different parishes around London: 25 participants from each parish Design: 1X3 within-participant ANOVA design; DV: survival; IVs: afterlife, compassion, apathy.

Method (2)
Measures: 1. The narrative of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 & 7). 2. A self-made questionnaire composed of twelve statements I have entitled The Social Beatitudes Inventory Procedure: The experimenter will contact participants via each parish priest. Participants will be explained in a letter the purpose of the study and they will be asked to read first the narrative of the Sermon on the Mount, and then to respond to the 12-statement questionnaire

Method (3)
Items will be rated -3 to +3, a form of the Likert scale scoring system. Data collected will be put into the SPSS for final analysis and discussion of findings (personal, interpersonal, and social implications of both the narrative and the inventory social, in the sense of Christian narratives being formed by counterintuitive beliefs which influence everyday human behavior and interaction with others. Scores for the IVs and DV items will be averaged to provide an overall rate for each one of them)

Results (1)
Out of 100 questionnaires were returned 44 from 27 males and 17 females A 1X3 (Survival x Afterlife*Compassion*Apathy) withinsubjects factorial ANOVA was conducted on counterintuitive beliefs and human survival needs A significant main effect was found for afterlife F(1,43)=8.81, p<0.5 (0.3) (r=.42)

Results (2)
A significant effect was found for compassion F(1,43)=6.58, p<0.5 (0.6) (r=.44) A non-significant main effect was found for apathy F(1.43)=.86, p<0.5 (0.8) (r=.28) Significant interaction was found between afterlife*compassion F(1,43)=7.15, p<0.5 (0.51) (r=.45)

Results (3)
Non-significant interaction was found between afterlife*apathy F(1.43)=.207, p<0.5 (0.9) (r=.29) Non-significant interaction was found between compassion*apathy F(1,43)=0.06, p<0.5 (0.94) (r=.27)

Discussion (1)
Significant effects and interactions were found between IVs The hypothesis of this study is supported because it was found that counterintuitive beliefs (such as afterlife and compassion) deal with everyday adaptive problems (such as honesty, social balance, goodness, peace, etc.) for they serve survival needs in modern societies

Discussion (2)
On the other hand non-significant main effect and interactions were found for apathy Significant interactions and main effects for afterlife and compassion but not for apathy indicate that social members consider continuity issues between survival needs and counterintuitive beliefs. The opposite was true for apathy where survival needs do not play important role in the lives of individuals when social interactions based on compassion and spirituality do not satisfy the well-being of social members

Discussion (3)
One other important finding coming from this study refers to the actual text of the Sermon on the Mount and how social members comprehend it: 1. The Sermon on the Mount influences beliefs people hold for one another in given Christian societies 2. Most of the articles of this Sermon are accepted in modern Christian societies as century-old imperatives for the betterment of human social life 3. Individuals in such societies follow the Sermon on the Mount and adapt it in their personal lives as a prerequisite for culmination of their survival needs

Strengths and Limitations (1)

Strengths: 1. The importance of New Testament texts for evolutionary psychology of religion 2. The importance of counterintuitive beliefs based on Christian texts (Biblical and the writings of the Fathers) for the understanding of religion as an important factor for human social evolution

Strengths and Limitations (2)

Limitations: 1. In replicating the study more counterintuitive beliefs could be employed 2. There could be compared Biblical texts to texts of Darwinian literature in reference to issues of adaptation, survival aspects, and aspects on fitness maximisation

Conclusion
Counterintuitive concepts influence human social life Religious beliefs are important for the construction of social ideals Religious beliefs are entertained by counterintuitive understandings of cognitive psychological appraisals Issues, such as compassion, apathy, and survival characterise human social interactions

Appendix 1: The Sermon on the Mount (1)

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Appendix 1: The Sermon on the Mount (2)

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. (...). Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.

Appendix 2: The Social Beatitudes Inventory (1)

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Those who comprehend reality in their own way, should not have place in society. Those who help others must be praised. One, even to be persecuted wrongly, one should not be get annoyed at. Those who mourn for things that sadden them, it isnt good to be comforted. Those who are honest, if something happens to them, they are to blame. If you put effort, but fail, you should not ask for the help of others.

Appendix 2: The Social Beatitudes Inventory (2)

7. Those who struggle for balance in society must
not profit on most. 8. Those who try for peace by any means, but do not succeed, should not mind us. 9. What we say and discuss with others should not care us whether our opinion matters to them . 10. Those who battle and become better, they achieve it at the expense of others. 11. Those who do good deeds, they do so in order others to acknowledge them. 12. I do to others whatever I like, for my ultimate goal is to lead ahead of them.

References (1)
Atran, S. (2002). In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press Gould, S. J., & Lewontin, R. C. (1979). The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm: A Critique of the Adaptationist Programme, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London (Biological Sciences), 205, 581-598

References (2)
Murray, M. J., & Goldberg, A. (2009). Evolutionary accounts of Religion: Explaining and explaining away. In J. Schloss & M. Murray (Eds.), The Believing Primate. Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Reflections (pp. 179-199). Oxford: Oxford University Press Varvatsoulias, G. (2010). Convergent pathways between evolutionary psychology and psychology of religion. Journal for interdisciplinary research on religion and science, 7, 41-63