APS
30th APS Annual Convention · 2018
The Search for Meaning: Priming Randomness Increases Teleological Reasoning
- Kelsey Kelley
University of Texas at Austin - Jacqueline Woolley
University of Texas at Austin
Abstract
Variation in the endorsement of unwarranted teleological, or purpose-based, explanations for life events and natural phenomena was examined after a scrambled sentence prime (randomness or neutral). Priming randomness increased teleological explanations of life events, but not of natural phenomena. Teleological reasoning in both domains was greater among God-believers than non-believers.
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