More religion means less science. An International comparison of the relations between religious beliefs and levels of and attitudes to scientific knowledge

TL;DR

This study compares data across countries showing that higher religious identification and practice correlate with lower scientific knowledge and less positive attitudes towards science.

Contribution

It provides a cross-national analysis demonstrating consistent negative correlations between religiosity and scientific literacy using survey data.

Findings

Religious individuals tend to have lower scientific knowledge.

Higher religious practice correlates with less positive attitudes towards science.

Correlations are consistent across the EU and US.

Abstract

This research presents the results of a comparative analysis of the links between religious practices and beliefs and levels of scientific knowledge. Based on secondary analyses of survey data in the European Union (Eurobarometers 2005 and 2010) and the United States (Pew Research Center 2018), we show that, regardless of the country, correlations suggest that the more individuals identify with a religion and the more intensely they practice that religion, the less scientifically literate they are, as measured in standard tests. Moreover, scientific representations are also related to individual religious outlook. The more individuals adhere to a religion, the less they have positive attitudes towards science. The conclusion suggests possible interpretations of theses correlations.