The Feeling Is Not Mutual: Religious Belief Predicts Compatibility Between Science and Religion, but Scientific Belief Predicts Conflict
Zarzeczna N. Preston J.L. Samekin A. Reinhardt C. Bolatov A. Mussinova Z. Selteyev U. Topanova G. Rutjens B.T.
2025American Psychological Association
Psychology of Religion and Spirituality
2025#17Issue 3250 - 260 pp.
The aim of the present research was to examine the independent contribution of beliefs in science and religion, respectively, to perceptions of science–religion compatibility across diverse countries and religious groups. To assess this, we recruited participants from three countries (the United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Kazakhstan; N = 684) and presented them with measures of belief in science and religious belief as independent constructs, such that the belief in science measure referred only to perceptions of science, without comparing science to religion, while the religious belief measure referred only to religious beliefs, without comparing religion to science. Participants then indicated the extent to which they saw conflict or compatibility between science and religion when it came to ontological/existential questions. Across countries, we found that religious belief, independently of belief in science, predicted strong science–religion compatibility perceptions, while belief in science, independently of religious belief, predicted conflict. Religious believers and believers in science have conflicting views on the relationship between science and religion, suggesting they may use different meaning systems to find meaning.
belief , meaning , religion , science , science and religion
Text of the article Перейти на текст статьи
Department of Psychology, University of Essex, United Kingdom
Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, United Kingdom
School of Liberal Arts, M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University, Kazakhstan
Institute of Psychology, University of Hamburg, Germany
Medical School, Astana Medical University, Kazakhstan
Higher School of Pedagogy, Margulan University, Kazakhstan
Research Department, Eurasian Integration Institute, Kazakhstan
Department of Theoretical and Practical Psychology, Kazakh National Women’s Teacher Training University, Kazakhstan
Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Kazakhstan
Department of Psychology
Department of Psychology
School of Liberal Arts
Institute of Psychology
Medical School
Higher School of Pedagogy
Research Department
Department of Theoretical and Practical Psychology
Department of Psychology
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026