Want people to like you? Hide your atheism!

[pokerfan]

Interesting...

In general, polls have shown that fewer than half of Americans would even remotely consider voting for an atheist presidential candidate. Oh, and no one wants his son or daughter marrying one of them heathens, either. Researchers led by Will Gervais at the University of British Columbia wondered why, and what they found was that it all came down to the simple fact that people don't trust atheists.

The researchers started out by presenting test subjects with perhaps the most reprehensible type of human being known to exist -- one who would smash into a parked car and then haul ass without leaving a note. Participants were asked to choose the likelihood that said parked car scraper was "a Christian, a Muslim, a rapist, or an atheist," and even though one of those things is clearly not like the others, atheists came in just about even with rapists on the "Yep, Probably a Gigantic Asshole" scale.

Further studies showed that participants would be unwilling to hire an atheist for a job requiring a strong degree of trust, and that they lock their doors at night for the specific purpose of preventing atheists from entering and eating their babies while they sleep.

http://www.cracked.com/article_20779_5-seemingly-insignificant-things-that-make-people-like-you_p2.html

[rug]

1. Well, that explains it.

[BlueCaliDem]

2. Prejudice is strong among the American people. We need to break the habit

of trying to compartmentalize people if we want to rise above petty prejudice and bigotry.

But to be fair, prejudice cuts both ways.

As a Christian, I'm often the target of ridicule by Atheists in my private life, even here. Some ridicule me for "believing in the Tooth Fairy", or they ask me, "Do you still believe in Santa Claus, too?"

That said, I then let all of that roll off my back like water on a duck, and I would never attack or judge a person based on their religious or non-religious choices. I respect their choice and raise my children to do the same.

I would happily vote and support any Atheist over any Christian if the Atheist cares more about the "lesser among us" than that so-called Christian does.

[cbayer]

4. I completely agree.

It is a two way street and it hurts us all when people ridicule others just for being a believer or a non-believer. Challenging individual beliefs, particularly those that impinge on the rights of others, is one thing. But belittling whole swaths of people based on their position on religion is just prejudice.

[BlueCaliDem]

5. Thank you, cbayer.

I couldn't have written it any better, and you summarized what I wanted to convey in far less words. And I appreciate it.

[cbayer]

6. You wrote it really well and it really resonated with me.

[cbayer]

3. The study was published a little over two years ago.

I wonder if the numbers are changing and would love to see a follow up on this.

The study is about trust but is often erroneously cited as being about other things like "disgust" or "hate".

As usual for Cracked, the rest of the article is pretty funny.

[intaglio]

7. A similar column in The Financial Times last year

Atheism in America
FT does not encourage cutting and pasting of its articles

[cbayer]

8. Really well done article.

I'm not sure that godlessness is the last big taboo. I suspect there will be other struggles for civil rights in the future, perhaps coming from groups that we haven't even thought about yet. But it's really looking like the next major one to tackle.

GLBT rights have advanced further at this point, but the struggle started earlier and the AIDS crisis really provided a huge push for fighting for equality.

I think I read this article when it first came out, but it was well worth the re-read.

[struggle4progress]

9. Gervais has another paper that might suggest a rather different framing of the matter:

Finding the Faithless: Perceived Atheist Prevalence Reduces Anti-Atheist Prejudice
Will M. Gervais
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 37(4) 543–556 © 2011
Abstract Although prejudice is typically positively related to relative outgroup size, four studies found converging evidence that perceived atheist prevalence reduces anti-atheist prejudice. Study 1 demonstrated that anti-atheist prejudice among religious believers is reduced in countries in which atheists are especially prevalent. Study 2 demonstrated that perceived atheist
prevalence is negatively associated with anti-atheist prejudice. Study 3 demonstrated a causal relationship: Reminders of atheist prevalence reduced explicit distrust of atheists. These results appeared distinct from intergroup contact effects. Study 4 demonstrated that prevalence information decreased implicit atheist distrust.

So (according to Gervais) prejudice against atheists differs from most other instances of prejudice, in that prejudice against atheists decreases when atheists are perceived as a large and more significant portion of the population

So perhaps the issue of "distrust" here is an issue of perceived familiarity: the person who thinks s/he knows no atheists may regard them as threateningly strange and unfamilar, whereas realizing there are a substantial number of atheists might reduce the threat of the strange and unfamiliar

[cbayer]

10. Another way to look at this is that atheists are less likely to self-identify

in areas with high levels of religiosity and in those most likely to not be accepting of atheists.

That would lead to smaller reported prevalence.

His suggestion that more public reporting of actual numbers is a good one, and that does seem to be what is happening.

Again, it's following a pattern very similar to what happened for GLBT people. Once people started coming out, the rates of prejudice began to fall.

[struggle4progress]

11. According to the researcher, reminding people of the prevalence of atheists, or informing them

of that prevalence if they didn't know, has the actual effect of reducing negative responses

[cbayer]

13. That's interesting.

I think if he had told them he was an atheist, that would reduce it as well.

[el_bryanto]

12. This is a pretty shameful way of things. nt

[Iggo]

14. People are idiots.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

15. I was told by a nosy stranger in a store

that "there are no atheists in foxholes."

I said, "You don't know that for a fact. Ever heard of Pat Tillman?"

"No."

"Well, look him up. He was a pro football player and killed in combat and was an atheist."

----stunned silence-----

Nosy, pushy people who have to butt into a private conversation I was having with my husband. Part Two:

Idiot redneck: "I tell you, all those people in intensive care, in such and such hospital, I know they are praying."
Husband: "How do you know? Have you gone there EVERY DAY and done a survey? You don't know that."

He said, "Do you think there's a heaven?"
Me: "I don't know. I don't know for sure."

Silence followed by angry departure, yelling at me, "I'm gonna pray for you."

I should have said, "Knock yourself out, bub."

This was while waiting in line in Walgreen's. Arrgh.

The people in our town probably make up crap about me and my husband because we don't go to church. And they're into symbolic cannibalism but we don't spit-roast babies and eat them.