A Study of Religious Belief

In an empirical study of religious belief, measures of strength of belief in an Australian student population were compared with beliefs in other areas and with personality and attitudinal variables. The correlation matrix shows that the religious belief measures belong together and that religious belief has its best relationships with institutionalization and denomination on the one hand and with authoritarianism on the other. The personality measures of anxiety were found to be related to dogmatism in opinionative and factual matters. In this way Thouless's finding that religious belief statements are assented to more strongly than are statements of fact has been confirmed, and extended. It is concluded that religious belief is a relatively isolated cognitive system requiring strong social support for its maintenance.