Study: abandoning religion promotes liberalization of political views

A new study by American scientists published in the Journal of Personality has revealed a clear trend: people who abandon religious beliefs become more liberal in their political views over time. The results, based on an analysis of data from the United States, the Netherlands and Hong Kong, show that a change in religious identity tends to precede a change in political orientation.

As Naked Science reports, the researchers set out to test the concept of so-called «religious residue» — the persistence of certain values after a formal break with a faith. The scientists wanted to find out whether this effect extends to political orientation, given the traditional link between religiosity and conservatism.

The work analyzed several samples, including a total of more than 10,000 people. The first part of the study, which consisted of six cross-sectional analyses, found that former believers held significantly more liberal views than those who remained religious. Their political orientation appeared similar to that of people who had never belonged to a denomination.

To trace the dynamics of these changes, the researchers turned to longitudinal studies that tracked the same people over several years. Analysis of data from the National Survey of Youth and Religion and Family Foundations of Youth Development confirmed the initial findings. The most important finding was that changes in religious identity tended to occur earlier than changes in political views. This suggests that people move away from religion first, and then their political beliefs become more liberal.

The authors of the paper note that the study has a number of limitations. In particular, a generalized question was used to assess political attitudes, and the observational nature of the study does not allow us to speak with absolute certainty about causality. Nevertheless, the totality of the data obtained strongly suggests that as the level of religiosity in society decreases, we can expect corresponding shifts in the political landscape towards liberalization.

Earlier we reported that a new sociological study in the United States revealed growing contradictions in the views of Americans on the Bible and the foundations of the Christian faith. According to the results, almost half of the respondents consider the Holy Scripture a collection of myths, not the Word of God. At the same time, a significant proportion of respondents also doubt the divinity of Jesus Christ, although they recognize the Bible as an authoritative guide to life.