One more time -- correlation between education levels and religious fervor?

Question

I was asking whether anyone knew of websites that show the correlation between education levels and religious fervor, okay?

I was NOT asking for anecdotal stuff.

I was NOT asking about basic intelligence; I was asking about education levels or backgrounds.

Immediately, a bunch of people were falling all over themselves, giving me anecdotal evidence concerning educated people who believe in Jesus, or whatever.

I'm asking the question again -- and this time, anybody that cares to, kindly read the question before answering, okay?

Question: If you don't know of a website or scientific study that talks about the correlation between education and religious fervor, why waste your time on this question?

Answer 1

http://undergraduatestudies.ucdavis.edu/explorations/2004/clark.pdf

And I hear ya: it's highly annoying that people hardly read the questions and at the same time they're assuming a lot about the intentions of the one who asks them.

Answer 2

not exactly fervor but...this study found interesting ties between various religious groups and educational attainment:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WX8-45FK09B-3&_user=10&_coverDate=12%2F31%2F1999&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=622ac34cf7c7a4b0bdc9e213d8274efc

This study found a positive relationship between religious commitment and educational achievement in black and Hispanic students:
http://uex.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/34/4/458

I found several others but couldn't find one that seemed to address the basic issue...correlation between degree of religious fervor and educational levels. Give me a year or so and I'll publish an article for you...assuming I can find someone to fund unbiased research!

Answer 3

This study is in no way reliable. There's no way in hell that rock fans have a higher IQ than metal fans concerning the personalities they typically have. And electronic music on top? Sure, some forms of it, but how are jazz and metal not up there either? Most metal fans I know are extremely intelligent who have a classicist taste and try to familiarize themselves with political science. This survey also doesn't take into account people who enjoy multiple genres and the fact that many genres which are deemed to be "lesser" don't have their more sophisticated artists presented. This survey just reeks of holes.

Answer 4

Frank Sulloway of MIT and Michael Shermer of California State University conducted a study which found in their polling sample of "credentialed" U.S. adults (12% had Ph.Ds and 62% were college graduates) 64% believed in God, and there was a correlation indicating that religious conviction diminished with education level.

Shermer, Michael (1999). How We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God. New York: William H Freeman, pp76–79. ISBN 071673561X.


For further information, you might also want to see the research of Petty & Cacioppo into Elaboration Likelihood Model.

Answer 5

Well, my guess is that most people go for the 2 points.

The only thing I could find related to your question was a paper entitled, "Religion at America's Most Selective Colleges: Some Findings from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen." You can look it up at http://www.princeton.edu/~margarit/Papers/mooney_asr_080205.pdf

Hope this is what you're looking for.

Answer 6

Religions are a set of beliefs that the superstitious part of the mind accepts but the rational mind does not. The more someone uses their rational mind the less they use their superstitious mind and the less they need a religion.

As Maslow discovered, however, that since nothing is static in life, the rational mind looks for something beyond itself, which it sees as a fragment of societal constructs and relative images that the ego is creating and eventually becomes trans-rational. The trans-rational mind is essentially intuitive and goes beyond rational thought.

Answer 7

Do you a specific religion on mind! or does that apply to all religions?!

That is one big huge question, taking into consideration that there are over 10,000 religions in the world.

Goof question, but the answer and the web site will differ depending on what you are looking for.

Answer 8

There are sites connected to Y' .I found some interesting ones by accident. I think I linked by entering the related words; i.e. Faith&education, then clicking onto a blog advert on the right.
All the best.
p.s. ,kudos' to your reiterating your q. so well.

Answer 9

The atheists in this study were more educated, on average, than the people of faith:
http://www.amazon.com/Atheists-Groundbreaking-Study-Americas-Nonbelievers/dp/1591024137/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196639497&sr=8-1
That said, the sample size was microscopic, so I wouldn't extrapolate the results to the population at large just because it seems likely. You can probably find the book at your library or any chain book store. It's a good little read and the author's make no bones about the novelty of the study. They don't pretend it's the definitive study of atheists for a second (in spite of the subtitle which, I'm sure, was tacked on by te publisher).

Answer 10

Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

That about sums it up.

The Bible is the study that proves the above Proverb. Read it and you will clearly see that wisdom of God is the ultimatre in education and therefore the more educated you are the more religious fervor as you call it, you have . We call it being filled with the Holy Spirit . Now that is an education that can lead you somewhere eternal. Heaven!