Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
929074 Intelligence 2013 8 Pages PDF
Abstract

A number of authors have suggested that education mediates the negative effect of intelligence on religiosity. However, there is very little direct evidence for this mediation, and the indirect evidence is contradictory. The results of the current paper suggest that, by and large, education does not mediate the effect of intelligence on religiosity. However, the results also suggest that since education has a positive effect on religiosity when religious background is strong and a negative effect when religious background is weak, and since intelligence has a positive effect on education, the negative effect of intelligence on religiosity is stronger when religious background is strong than when it is weak. We examine this mediated moderation model in two large, nationally representative, databases.

► By and large education does not mediate the effect of intelligence on religiosity. ► Religious background moderates the effect of education on religiosity. ► As a result, religious background moderates the effect of intelligence on religiosity.

Related Topics
Social Sciences and Humanities Psychology Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
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