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The identity term “agnostic” is typically used to signify a specific set of epistemological and ontological beliefs. Agnostics are thought to have an uncertain personal epistemic stance regarding God (i.e. “I do not know”) and to endorse the ontological stance that god/s is/are generally unknowable. However, compared to atheism and religiosity, agnosticism and associated beliefs are more heterogeneous and loosely aligned. This study consisted of participants drawn from several samples (total n = 1018) responding to items pertaining to their non/religious identities as well as epistemological and ontological views. The results indicated that agnostics frequently also endorse other self-identifications, and they share beliefs that substantially overlap with those of atheists. Whereas 22% of the total sample included agnostic among other self-identifications, only 11% endorsed agnostic as their sole self-identity, a relatively low “retention” rate compared to atheist or religious self-identifications. Moreover, endorsement of ontological belief ostensibly corresponding to agnosticism (i.e. “gods/s is/are unknowable”) did not unambiguously align with agnostic identification or differentiate it from atheism. Agnostic self-identification thus reflects a relatively heterogeneous mixture of epistemic and ontological beliefs and is affected by factors other than beliefs about God/s, such as stylistic and expressive preferences.
Luke W. Galen (Sat,) studied this question.