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SYDNEY, NSW /
The Sydney Morning Herald / Science-Tech / December 2, 2009
By Deborah Smith, Science Editor
IT IS said that God created man in his own image, but the reverse also seems to be the case.
People subconsciously project their own views on controversial issues onto God, so much so that when their views change slightly, they think the deity's views have also shifted, new research suggests.
The study, by an American and Australian team, was aimed at finding out how believers determine the will of God on important topics, and used a variety of techniques including surveys, psychological manipulation and brain imaging.
Researchers led by
Nicholas Epley, a professor of behavioural science at the University of Chicago, said believers often rely on what they think God wants them to do as a ''moral compass''. But this is a poor analogy, they found.
''The central feature of a compass is that it points north no matter what direction a person is facing,'' they wrote.
''Unlike an actual compass, inferences about God's beliefs may instead point people further in whatever direction they are already facing.''
The research, titled Creating God in One's Own Image, was published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A team member,
Alexa Delbosc, of Monash University, said it was widely thought that God was beyond the understanding of science. ''But science can help us understand the human side of belief.''
The team conducted seven studies in the US, including four in which they surveyed people about their own beliefs on controversial issues such as abortion and the death penalty. Participants were also asked about what they thought God believed, as well as famous people like Bill Gates and President George Bush.
The psychologists then altered participants' views slightly with techniques such as making them write and deliver a speech in front of a video camera on a topic from a particular viewpoint.
''Manipulating people's own beliefs affected their estimates of God's beliefs more than it affected estimates of other people's beliefs,'' the team concluded.
The final study involved taking brain images of believers as they thought about their own beliefs versus those of God or another person.
Many of the same brain regions became active when people thought about their own views and God's views, but different areas lit up when contemplating the mental states of other people.
Ms Delbosc, a Christian who carried out the research in the US while studying for a masters in psychology, said that although people's perceptions of God's attitudes on an issue could be ''nudged'' slightly, there would be limits to how radically people changed their views. [
rc]
Copyright © 2009. Fairfax Digital
Researchers led by Nicholas Epley, a professor of behavioural science at the University of Chicago, said believers often rely on what they think God wants them to do as a ''moral compass''. But this is a poor analogy, they found.
''The central feature of a compass is that it points north no matter what direction a person is facing,'' they wrote.
''Unlike an actual compass, inferences about God's beliefs may instead point people further in whatever direction they are already facing.''
The research, titled Creating God in One's Own Image, was published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A team member, Alexa Delbosc, of Monash University, said it was widely thought that God was beyond the understanding of science. ''But science can help us understand the human side of belief.''
The team conducted seven studies in the US, including four in which they surveyed people about their own beliefs on controversial issues such as abortion and the death penalty. Participants were also asked about what they thought God believed, as well as famous people like Bill Gates and President George Bush.
The psychologists then altered participants' views slightly with techniques such as making them write and deliver a speech in front of a video camera on a topic from a particular viewpoint.
''Manipulating people's own beliefs affected their estimates of God's beliefs more than it affected estimates of other people's beliefs,'' the team concluded.
The final study involved taking brain images of believers as they thought about their own beliefs versus those of God or another person.
Many of the same brain regions became active when people thought about their own views and God's views, but different areas lit up when contemplating the mental states of other people.
Ms Delbosc, a Christian who carried out the research in the US while studying for a masters in psychology, said that although people's perceptions of God's attitudes on an issue could be ''nudged'' slightly, there would be limits to how radically people changed their views. [rc]
Copyright © 2009. Fairfax Digital
