TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2020//
TI  - Conflict changes how people view God
JO  - Psychological science
A1  - Caluori, Nava
A1  - Jackson, Joshua Conrad
A1  - Gray, Kurt
A1  - Gelfand, Michele
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - Religion shapes the nature of intergroup conflict, but conflict may also shape religion. Here, we report four multimethod studies that reveal the impact of conflict on religious belief: The threat of warfare and intergroup tensions increase the psychological need for order and obedience to rules, which leads people to view God as more punitive. Studies 1 (<i>N</i> = 372) and 2 (<i>N</i> = 911) showed that people's concern about conflict correlates with belief in a punitive God. Study 3 (<i>N</i> = 1,065) found that experimentally increasing the salience of conflict increases people's perceptions of the importance of a punitive God, and this effect is mediated by people's support for a tightly regulated society. Study 4 showed that the severity of warfare predicted and preceded worldwide fluctuations in punitive-God belief between 1800 CE and 2000 CE. Our findings illustrate how conflict can change the nature of religious belief and add to a growing literature showing how cultural ecologies shape psychology.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0956-7976
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797619895286
ID  - ref1
ER  -