{"id":36462,"date":"2013-06-09T16:44:35","date_gmt":"2013-06-09T20:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetsave.com\/?p=36462"},"modified":"2013-06-09T16:44:35","modified_gmt":"2013-06-09T20:44:35","slug":"stress-and-existential-anxiety-increase-belief-in-science-new-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/articles\/stress-and-existential-anxiety-increase-belief-in-science-new-study-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Stress and Existential Anxiety Increase 'Belief in Science', New Study Finds"},"content":{"rendered":"
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photo credit: JJStudio<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The old adage “there are no atheists in fox holes” may be true for the more religiously inclined, but much less so for the more rational or scientific-minded amongst us.<\/p>\n

A recent study by psychologist at University of Oxford, in the UK, finds that a certain “faith” in the explanatory power of Science increases when subjects were experiencing stress or anxiety. They surmise that this “belief in science” serves the same purpose — amongst non-religious persons — as the belief in god (or a higher power) does for religious folks.<\/p>\n

Previous studies had found that religious belief serves as a coping mechanism for persons experiencing stress and anxiety (Inzlicht et al, 2012, Norenzayan & Hansen, 2006), and served to “compensate for lack of control” (Kay et al, 2009). The Oxford researchers decided to follow up on this with new studies to determine if this effect was specific to religious belief, or, if it was in fact a more general mechanism, that is, whether the coping power was an effect of belief itself<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Dr Miguel Farias, the study’s lead researcher in the Department of Experimental Psychology at Oxford University, explains:<\/p>\n

“We found that being in a more stressful or anxiety-inducing situation increased participants’ ‘belief in science’. This belief in science we looked at says nothing of the legitimacy of science itself. Rather we were interested in the values individuals hold about science.” [quote source: Oxford University press release]<\/a><\/p>\n

Regarding these values, Dr. Farias elaborated further:<\/p>\n

“While most people accept science as a reliable source of knowledge about the world, some may hold science as a superior method for gathering knowledge, the only way to explain the world, or as having some unique and fundamental value in itself. This is a view of science that some atheists endorse.”<\/p>\n

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The Experiments – Rowing and Writing<\/h3>\n

To more accurately gauge a person’s belief in science, the researchers first devised a ‘belief’ scale comprised of ten statements asking participants how much they “agreed or disagreed”. Example statements included:<\/p>\n