Week 8 - Conceptualizing God

Anthropomorphism

Seeing human-like characteristics in non-humans

Egocentric perceptions of God's beliefs

Refers to the tendency to view God through one's own beliefs and experiences (Epley et al., 2009)

Two Dimensions of Perception

Agency and Experience

Agency

Ability to think/act/communicate

Experience

Being conscious, feeling basic emotions/needs

Supernatural adjectives

Adjectives that describe God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit as invincible, almighty, holy

Positive human-like adjectives

Adjectives that describe God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit as loving, kind

Negative human-like adjectives

Adjectives that describe God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit as demanding, harsh

Christians' depictions of the Holy Trinity

God more supernatural than Jesus, Jesus more human-like than God

Holy Spirit

Least describable and least human-like among the Holy Trinity (possibly different among Pentecostals)

LAMBI model

A model describing personal characteristics of God: Limitless, Authoritarian, Mystical, Benevolent, Ineffable

Benevolent conceptions of God

Increase cheating behavior in moral dilemmas

Belief in hell and crime rates

Countries with high rates of belief in hell have lower crime rates; belief in heaven is associated with higher crime rates

External motive

Desire to avoid punishment, be rewarded by God

Internal motive

Desire to do the 'right thing'

Conflict reminders

Increase belief in authoritarian God (Caluori et al., 2020)

Cultural tightness

Strict social norms, rules, restrictions that create a sense of psychological safety

Tightness vs. looseness

Experimental manipulation of cultural tightness affecting beliefs in authoritarian God

Relational: God as Attachment Figure

Belief in loving God can substitute for close relationships, especially among those with preoccupied attachment style

SBNR identity

Spiritual but not religious identity and belief in God as a cosmic force

Hinduism

Most common concepts are 'love' and 'truth'; gender mentioned by < 10% of participants

Judaism

More complex, unstable conceptions of God than in other religions due to greater emphasis on practice than belief

Science-related awe

Awe related to science that influences abstract representations of God