Mortality Awareness and Belief in
Supernatural Agents
Ara Norenzayan
Department of Psychology
University of British Columbia
Cross Cultural Observations
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Nearly all societies have supernatural
beliefs; Most people in the world believe
in some kind of Higher Power (60-90%)
Supernatural beliefs are the cornerstone of
religions
The influence of religions is expected to
increase in the coming decades
Surveys of Religion show that Americans
Believe in…
% Believe
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God
Heaven
Hell
Psychic and spiritual healing
ESP or extrasensory perception50%
Haunted houses
Possession by the devil
Ghosts of dead people returning
Clairvoyance
Gallup Poll, 1994, 2001
96%
93%
85%
54%
50%
41%
38%
32%
Cross Cultural Comparisons
How Important is God in your life?
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West Africa
Latin America
North America
Western Europe
Eastern Europe
South East Asia
Total Average
Middle East
97%
87%
83%
49%
49%
47%
63%
?
Gallup International Millenium Survey (60 countries)
The Secularization Myth
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Despite the rise of science and technology, the
influence of religions has not diminished
Estimated 10,000 religions in the world
2-3 religions born every day
The rise of religion in the 21st century--The age of
religious conflicts?
Two exceptions: Europe and academia
Supernatural Agent Beliefs
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Supernatural agent beliefs are produced by
graded and systematic violations of intuitive
agent beliefs (Boyer, 1994)
Cultural manipulation of agency-detection
module
ghost = intentional agent + invisible + passes
through solid objects
Supernatural Agents and Awareness of Death
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Religious beliefs function to manage terror of
death
Becker, (1973); Durkheim (1915); Freud,
1913; Kierkegaard, (1843)
“Religion is like a fire extinguisher. You never
know when you are going to need it. So it’s
best to have one handy.”
-- Al Franken, Oh, The Things I Know!
Terror Management Theory
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Terror Management Theory (Greenberg, et al., 1990)
Two ways to cope with the awareness of death
 1) Cultural worldview: bolster one’s cultural
worldview (and derogate other worldviews)
 2) Perceive oneself as a good cultural member (self
esteem)
Questions
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Does awareness of death lead to more belief in
supernatural agents?
Cultural Worldview Bolstering Hypothesis: death
increases culturally-familiar SNL belief,
decreases culturally alien SNL belief
Distinct Supernatural Buffer Hypothesis: death
increases SNL belief even when culturally alien
“Buddha” Study
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Religious identification (pretest)
Mortality salience vs. control story
Newspaper article reporting scientific study about the
power of Buddhist prayer on fertility rates of women
wanting to get pregnant
Questions about belief in Buddha, and Buddha’s ability
to answer prayers
80 Participants at an American University, 59%
Christian, 26% no religion, no Buddhists
“Buddha” Study
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Key dependent measures:
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Buddha prayed to hears prayers
Evidence that Buddha can answer prayers
Buddha/a higher power can hear prayers
Buddha/a higher power can answer prayers
Belief in The Power of Buddhist Prayer by Mostly
Christians
7
Neutral
6.5
Death
6
Agreement
5.5
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
Buddha prayed to
hears prayers
Evidence that Buddha Buddha hears prayers Buddha can answer
answers prayers
prayers
F(1, 33) = 5.20, p = .03
Results of “Buddha” Study
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Awareness of death encouraged more belief in a
culturally alien supernatural agent
Those who identified with their own religion were
MORE likely to believe in the power of Buddhist
Prayer when death was salient (r = .68, p < .01)
In the control condition, no relationship between
religious ID and belief in Buddha (r = .03)
Support for the distinct buffer hypothesis
“Shaman” Study
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Essay: mortality salience vs. negative affect vs.
control
Newspaper article on the use of clairvoyant
shamans in the Russian military to assist in
intelligence gathering
Questions about belief in shamanic spirits, and
their ability to offer guidance and information
142 Participants in Vancouver, religious vs. not
“Shaman” Study
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Key dependent measures:
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1a) Paranormal clairvoyance is not possible (RS)
1b) Ancestral shamanic spirits exist
1c) Ancestral shamanic spirits offer guidance and info
2a) Achievements of program offer evidence that ancestral
spirits exist
2b) Achievements of program offer evidence that ancestral
spirits offer guidance and info
3a) God/a higher power exists
3b) God/a higher power offers reliable guidance and info
Belief in Ancestral Spirits
Control
Control NA
Mortaility
Salient
Degree of Supernatural Belief
8
7.5
7
6.5
6
5.5
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
Alien Spirits
Evidence
God/HP
Participants Indicating a Religion
Belief in Ancestral Spirits
Control
Control NA
Mortaility
Salient
Degree of Supernatural Belief
8
7.5
7
6.5
6
5.5
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
Alien Spirits
Evidence
Non-Religious Participants
God/HP
Ongoing Studies…
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Cross cultural generality
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Yucatec Maya villagers
Atheists in the foxhole
Cultural transmission and stabilization of
supernaturals
Conclusions from Studies
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Not side-effect of worldview bolstering
Not merely social identification w/religious group
Privileged link between awareness of mortality
and supernatural beliefs
“In a sea storm, voyagers will pray to any God”
No, no, that’s not a sin either. My goodness,
you must have worried yourself to death.”
Theoretical Framework
(Atran & Norenzayan, in press, BBS)
In nearly all known societies, there are:
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1) Belief in supernatural agents (Gods, ghosts), who
manage
2) Existential anxieties (death & social deception), that
require
3) Costly commitment (sacrifice of time, resources)
Ritually coordinated through affective displays,
yielding “religion”
The Four Cs of Religion
Religion is not a biological adaptation; it is a cultural
byproduct of multiple interacting mental modules and
universal needs
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Counterintuition: Intentional agents (cognitive aspect)
Compassion: Existential anxieties (emotional aspect)
Costly Commitment (motivational aspect)
Communion: ritualized coordination (social aspect)