Loneliness Breeds Belief in Supernatural

[kurth]

Jan 25, 2008
Loneliness Breeds Belief in Supernatural
Andrea Thompson, LiveScience Staff Writer

People who feel lonely are more likely to believe in the supernatural, whether that is God, angels or miracles, a new study finds. Humans have evolved as social creatures, so loneliness cuts to the quick. Living in groups was critical to the survival and safety of our ancient ancestors, and "complete isolation or ostracism has been tantamount to a death sentence," said University of Chicago researcher Nicholas Epley, who led the study.

While group living isn't critical to survival in the modern world, feeling socially connected is. Feeling isolated and lonely is a very painful emotional state for people, Epley said, and can lead to ill health, both physically and mentally. "Being socially isolated is just not good for you," he said.

When people feel lonely, they may try to rekindle old friendships, seek out new ones or, as Epley's study suggests, they may create social connections by anthropomorphizing nearby gadgets, such as computers or cars, pets, or by believing in supernatural events or religious figures.

In their study, detailed in the February issue of the journal Psychological Science, Epley's team tried to induce feelings of loneliness in people to see how it affected how they thought of pets and their belief in religious figures...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080125/sc_livescience/lonelinessbreedsbeliefinsupernatural

[aquart]

1. Idiots.

[Realityhack]

21. wait... who's idiots? n/t

[More Than A Feeling]

2. I'm not surprised at all.

As an added benefit, those supernatural friends can lead to human friends as you join your supernatural beliefs to those of others.

[papau]

9. supernatural friends = God/religious belief??? I do believe the author and you would see eye to eye

[Meshuga]

11. A personal god "exists" in someone's head for the sake of convenience

And a lot of people use the concept for emotional support in times of need. It makes sense. It is bad, and it becomes an issue, when the person starts using this concept in a way that goes beyond this self-help approach. You know, sometimes the imaginary friend becomes too opinionated and wants to control the lives of other people besides his/her/its "host".

[papau]

12. sad - but it must be good to have a faith like yours that you are "logical" and therefore correct

Funny - but then faith is that thing that those who are believers in God also have -

indeed faith is the one thing the atheists and the believers both depend upon in their belief in what can not be proved - or disproved -

it can just be disrespected

As in "the imaginary friend" - but alas, my faith tells me I should not disrespect anyone - even those that disrespect me

peace

[More Than A Feeling]

17. Then show your respect by not imposing your religious framework

on people who have rejected it. If they say they don't have faith, do not insist that they do, for that would be disrespectful.

Unless, of course, talking about respect is just a useful tool to you, not a heartfelt commitment.

[Meshuga]

18. It's not that faith like mine is logical

And who is saying that I don't have irrational beliefs?

It is not about one faith system being more logical than the other. It's about being able to question beliefs and accepting other possibilities. Otherwise it becomes blind faith and blind faith opens up the possibilities for problematic consequences.

So I could see what critics of religion are talking about when they say that blind faith is a component that several liberal believers also share with the religious right. And I don't blame these critics for being annoyed at that.

[More Than A Feeling]

14. Well, I would put the greater emphasis on the social connection

as relief for loneliness. Supernatural beliefs, by themselves, are ineffective, in my experience. The loneliest time in my life occurred while I was still a believer in the supernatural, but I was cut off from my closest friends, so much so that I felt abandoned by them. Believing in god, prayer...neither did anything to relieve that anguish. Joining a local bible study helped a little more.

[Evoman]

16. No...it's actually more like supernatural leaders or parents.

Which is quite a bit sadder......

[papau]

3. belief in God is a disease?- need to get out and socialize more?- not very scientific- correlation

is not causation

[cosmik debris]

4. I see it a little differently

Loneliness is the disease, belief in god is the cure. Or so they believe.

[1620rock]

6. Putting down spiritual people and people who love their pets?

...this guy sounds like a jerk.

[cosmik debris]

8. More impolite than incorrect. n/t

[Realityhack]

19. wow...

you are really good at attacking straw men. No correlation does not prove causation but the research was not strictly correlative. Furthermore the research does not indicate belief in god/miracles etc. is a disease.
Nice job with the slander.

[varkam]

23. Are you sure you are responding in the right thread? eom

[ret5hd]

5. So, in other words, loneliness breeds imaginary friends.

not too surprising, is it?

[heidler1]

13. I suspect that people with imaginary friends might have trouble making friends with real people.

I wonder which starts first. It could also be that characteristic of having imaginary friends would cause those people to seek out organizations, like Churches, that promote believing in imaginary friends like gods or spirits or souls.

[stray cat]

7. People who are incapable of feeling lonely may be incapable of other emotions

or sensing any meaning beyond immediate gratification. It all depends on your interpretation of lonely. Artists are said to be emotionally sensitive and even more emotionally vulnerable - is art evidence of a mental disease?

[mike_c]

10. adults with imaginary friends....

[varkam]

15. I don't really see what people's problem with this article is.

It isn't saying that religious people are somehow defective and unwanted. I imagine that this sort of thing applies to everyone, not just religious individuals.

Primarily, I think that this research is very interesting. It makes sense on an intuitive level in that people at desperate / lonely times often turn to a higher power of some sort for guidance.

[TZ]

20. Well that explains why I worship the ground my cats walk on...

:rofl:

I could however see this could be the case. Lonely people have needs to be filled.belief in god will certainly fill that need.
I fill that need somehow differently...DU.:)

[Realityhack]

22. OK I call not reading the link...

lets be honest.

How many people read at least the full linked article before commenting?

How about the full cut and paste (including the last sentence)?

[kwassa]

24. Correlation is not causation

"People who feel lonely are more likely to believe in the supernatural, whether that is God, angels or miracles, a new study finds."

There is nothing in this article that says loneliness CAUSES such belief. Loneliness might simply be one among several dozen other variables that could influence religious belief, none of which are considered in this study. I find it odd that loneliness is singled out.

and that final sentence:

"There are health benefits that come from being connected to other people, and those same benefits seem to come from connection with pets and with religious agents, too," Epley said.