Perceiving Minds and Gods

Abstract

Most people believe in the existence of empirically unverifiable gods. Despite apparent heterogeneity, people’s conceptions of their gods center on predictable themes. Gods are overwhelmingly represented as intentional agents with (more or less) humanlike mental lives. This article reviews converging evidence suggesting that this regularity in god concepts exists in part because the ability to represent gods emerges as a cognitive by-product of the human capability to perceive minds. Basic human mind-perception abilities both facilitate and constrain belief in gods, with profound implications for individual differences in religious beliefs, implicit representations of supernatural agents, and the varieties of nonreligious experience. Furthermore, people react similarly to both reminders of gods and cues of social surveillance (e.g., audiences or video cameras), leading to interesting consequences in the domains of prosocial behavior, socially desirable responding, and self-awareness. Converging evidence indicates that mind perception is both cause and consequence of many religious beliefs.