SURPRISING SIMILARITIES IN COGNITIVE FOOTPRINT OF SCIENTISM AND IRRATIONAL BELIEFS

• Authors: Lukić Petar , Žeželj Iris
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Scientism is a belief that science is superior to any other human endeavour, capable of solving all human problems and that scientists are always knowledgeable and ethical. As this view is extreme and somewhat dogmatic, we tested whether it draws from the same information processing style as beliefs traditionally deemed irrational. This is especially interesting since scientist and irrational beliefs are incompatible content-wise and thus negatively related. In Study 1 (N = 1003, representative for Serbia) scientist beliefs were more frequent than anti-scientific beliefs and, expectedly, correlated negatively with conspiracy, paranormal, and pseudoscientific beliefs. Study 2 (online community sample; 186 scientists, 147 laypeople) showed that uncritical trust in science positively correlated to need for closure and uncertainty intolerance, while uncritical trust in scientists negatively correlated with cognitive reflection and cognitive abilities. This indeed indicates a superficial informational processing style typically observed in people prone to irrational beliefs. All reported relationships, however, need to be independently replicated. This apparent paradox illustrates that science could be used as a heuristic, and it highlights the need to cultivate a more realistic view of the science process through formal education and media.

Keywords

EN

SCIENTIST BELIEFS; TRUST IN SCIENCE; IRRATIONAL BELIEFS; INFORMATION PROCESSING

• Publisher: Institute of Experimental Psychology, Slovak Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Studia Psychologica
• Year: 2025
• Volume: 67
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 69 - 86

Contributors

author

Lukić Petar

• Department of Psychology, University of Belgrade, Serbia

• https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2687-1723

author

Žeželj Iris

• https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9527-1406

Identifiers

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31577/sp.2025.01.912