How much do genetics weigh in on the degree of our belief?

Question

This question is directed to how genetics effect belief or the amount of belief one has. Not what a person believes in. Is belief only socially engineered or does it have a core anchor that is defined by the genetic makeup that we are given at birth. I would like to know if there is specific research that backups any theory.

To define the question once further:
Is the degree to how much "belief" a human has genetic?
or
Is belief defined by our surroundings and social engineering?

I'd like to make a small addendum to this question. Notice I did not say anything about belief in contrast to religion. I think that's an important distinction. Religion by its definition is a social concept.

Answer 1

An excellent question! I'm not aware of any studies that have specifically investigated the potential link between a person's genetic makeup and his/her tendency to develop 'beliefs.' Scientists have, however, looked for a genetic link to religiousness. Granted, a person with a tendency to develop beliefs does not necessarily have to be religious (as you cleverly pointed out), but I think for the purposes of this discussion, we can assume that a person with a greater likelihood to become 'religious' also has a greater likelihood to develop beliefs in general. In other words, we should be able to use a person's overall 'religiousness' as a barometer for his/her degree of belief.

Now, to the meat of my response! Interestingly enough, several studies have shown a strong influence of genetics on personal religiousness (see link below). The most convincing studies involve iidentical twins raised in separate households (with each household having its own degree of religious influence). In many cases, the twins' religousness will reflect that of their respective household during childhood, but once they reach adulthood, the twins' religousness is more likely to reflect that of *each other*. That's really quite amazing because it implies that some binding factor between the two twins (most logically genetic) will ultimately determine how religious the twins become at adulthood *regardless* of what religious influences were placed upon them during childhood.

So, it looks as though there probably is some sort of genetic influence here, but I should stress that it is an 'influence.' Anyone who has studied genetics and/or human behavior can tell you that genetic makeup certainly does not *determine* behavior. Environmental factors will always have some degree of influence, and if you look at the twins studies, you will find that not all pairs of identical twins end up with the same degree of belief in adulthood.

Answer 2

Wish I could help you on stats on specific research, but as an added hypothesis; I might wonder if belief is a manifestation of the intelligence process. We have intelligence to help us understand how the world works so that we can make choices that (hopefully) give us some advantage. The need to recognize that things happen for a reason expresses itself as belief in the unknown when we don’t have evidence for something. Since we are all (more or less) capable of advanced thought, then our genetics sets us up to form some beliefs when we don’t know all the answers. Why two people can look at the same bits of information and come up with opposing theories on how those facts came to be is a much harder question to answer.

Answer 3

Social surroundings, completely. If genetics had anything to do with it, i'm sure that the different religious groups of the world would have already comissioned to make a virus to make us all good servants.

I'm a perfect example of this situation. I am a descendant of a long line of extremely religious people (even a great uncle who was a priest and climbed all the way up to the vatican), yet my parents decided when i was born to let me make the choice of being religious or not when i was old enough. It was a bit of an experiment of faith. Thus, they kept me away from anything remotely religious and of course i became quite fond of scientific fact and logic. When I was 12 they presented the religious option, and i strongly rejected it.

And now, i have no faith in anything but my own experiences i am a crusader against fundamentalist religious nonsense.

So, social phenomenon, no genetics.

Answer 4

I don't think genetics plays a role in belief, and if it does, it's probably negligible. Remember, when religion was started, it was in a time where life generally sucked. Life expectancy was only a couple of decades. Religion was hope, back then, the hope that there was something better after a life of hardships. So, yes, I think belief was affected by our surroundings.

Answer 5

I think belief is also a social concept. It is something introduced to you after birth by your family and surroundings.

There are many, many examples of children who reject their families' beliefs - which indicates it is not a hereditary trait.