"Spiritual but not religious": Cognition, schizotypy, and conversion in alternative beliefs.

People who describe themselves as spiritual but not religious (SBNR) hold more paranormal beliefs and report more mystical experiences and feelings of universal connectedness than either religious or non-religious individuals. However, SBNR individuals resemble religious individuals in their patterns of cognitive biases. They also score higher on measures of schizotypy. Conversions between groups since childhood are linked to specific cognitive differences: dualism predicts conversion to religion, while schizotypy predicts conversion to SBNR.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The spiritual but not religious (SBNR) are a growing population in secularizing societies. Yet, we know little about the underlying psychology of this group or their belief profile. Based on an individual difference approach, we address this knowledge gap by comparing SBNR with religious and non-religious participants. In a sample of Americans (n=1013), we find that the SBNR differ from non-religious and religious participants in a number of ways. SBNR participants are more likely to hold paranormal beliefs and to have an experiential relationship to the supernatural (e.g. have mystical experiences and feelings of universal connectedness), but are similar to religious participants in their profile of cognitive biases. SBNR participants score higher on measures of schizotypy than the religious or non-religious. Reported conversions from one group (religious, SBNR, or non-religious) to another since childhood corresponds with predictable differences in cognitive biases, with dualism predicting conversion to religion and schizotypy predicting conversion to SBNR.