Here's more. Almost all of you will only be able to read the abstract to this, I see the full article because I'm on a University VPN right now.
Cite: The Relationship Between Intelligence and Religiosity (a meta-analysis and some proposed explanations).
Author: Miron Zuckerman, University of Rochester, NY.
Journal: Personality and Social Psychology Review (Impact factor: 8.195).
First paragraph of abstract: A meta-analysis of 63 studies showed a significant negative association between intelligence and religiosity. The association was stronger for college students and the general population than for participants younger than college age; it was also stronger for religious beliefs than religious behavior. For college students and the general population, means of weighted and unweighted correlations between intelligence and the strength of religious beliefs ranged from −.20 to −.25 (mean r = −.24). Three possible interpretations were discussed. First, intelligent people are less likely to conform and, thus, are more likely to resist religious dogma. Second, intelligent people tend to adopt an analytic (as opposed to intuitive) thinking style, which has been shown to undermine religious beliefs. Third, several functions of religiosity, including compensatory control, self-regulation, self-enhancement, and secure attachment, are also conferred by intelligence. Intelligent people may therefore have less need for religious beliefs and practices.
For those who do not know, I'll explain some of the above. A meta-analysis is not a trial of itself - it is when the data from all previous trials on the subject have been collated. The idea behind this is 'more data is better'. This is always* true.
r=-0.24 is not as strong a correlation as I would call "a significant negative correlation" however. I can't be bothered to read any further than the first paragraph, because I don't really care.
