Author ORCID Identifier
Date Available
7-11-2018
Year of Publication
2018
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Document Type
Master's Thesis
College
Arts and Sciences
Department/School/Program
Psychology
First Advisor
Dr. Will M. Gervais
Abstract
Space exploration continues to expand humanity’s understanding of the universe. And, while Americans have widely favorable attitudes towards efforts to explore outer space, certain religious beliefs appear to be associated with more negative attitudes towards space exploration and the search for extraterrestrial life. The current study explored the role of religion and creationism on attitudes towards space exploration and the search for extraterrestrial life. Priming techniques were used to test whether increasing the accessibility of religious and creationist concepts led to more negative attitudes towards space exploration and beliefs about extraterrestrial life. Participants (N = 230) encountered an explicit prime of religion, creationism, or a control prior to completing a word fragment task and measures of attitudes towards space exploration and beliefs about extraterrestrial life. The results of Bayesian estimation and hypothesis testing did not support the prediction. However, exploratory analyses indicated very strong evidence of atheists having more positive attitudes towards space exploration and beliefs about extraterrestrial life than theists. These findings suggest that while priming religion and creationism did not appear to influence reported attitudes, attitudes towards space exploration and the search for extraterrestrial life may differ based on belief in god.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2018.276
Recommended Citation
Schiavone, Sarah R., "A PLACE AMONG THE STARS? THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGION AND CREATIONISM ON ATTITUDES TOWARDS SPACE EXPLORATION AND BELIEFS IN EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE" (2018). Theses and Dissertations--Psychology. 140.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/psychology_etds/140
