Atheists Intuitively Favor Religion, New Study Reveals

A new international study suggests that even committed atheists intuitively favor religion, whether they realize it or not.

The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, surveyed around 3,800 people across eight countries with low religious involvement, including Canada, Japan, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Participants were shown a moral scenario involving a journalist whose article led to either a rise in religious belief or an increase in atheism. They were then asked whether the journalist intended to cause that shift.

Results showed that people were 40% more likely to say the journalist meant to cause the rise in atheism than the rise in religious belief, suggesting that many view growing atheism as a more serious, deliberate outcome.

Moral judgment mirrors earlier findings

Researchers say the response mirrors a known psychological pattern called the “Knobe effect.” In earlier studies, people were far more likely to say someone intentionally caused harm than to say they intentionally caused good, even if both were side effects of the same action.

In this new study, the rise of atheism was judged as something deliberate, similar to how earlier participants viewed environmental damage as intentional. By contrast, a surge in religious faith was seen as more accidental or neutral.

A lingering sense that religion is good

Philosopher Daniel Dennett once described this reaction as “belief in belief,” the idea that even non-believers may feel religion has social value. According to this view, someone can reject religious teachings while believing the world might be better off if others held them.

KEEPING THE FAITH: A poll finds that one in four atheists resort to prayer when personal crisis strikes. @fatherjonathan provides insight on @foxandfriends. pic.twitter.com/E6i6Bi4kRl

— Ainsley Earhardt (@ainsleyearhardt) January 17, 2018

That mindset persists even in places where religion has faded from public life. In recent decades, self-reported belief in God, religious attendance, and prayer have all declined worldwide. However, researchers argue that religion’s long history continues to shape thinking.

Cultural memory of faith remains strong

Religion has helped guide human behavior for thousands of years, encouraging cooperation and moral norms. Over time, the link between religion and morality became deeply rooted in many cultures.

Study author and cognitive scientist David Speed argues that the cultural weight of religion, built over thousands of years, still leaves its mark, even as formal belief declines. Belief may be falling, but belief in belief remains strong, Speed said.

Not quite a new age of disbelief

The findings complicate the idea that modern society is entering an “atheist age.” While fewer people may follow religion today, many still see it as something worth keeping.