Is Religion Natural? The Chinese Challenge

June 2011—September 2015

• Justin L. Barrett, Project Leader
• Ryan Hornbeck, Postdoctoral Researcher
• Melanie Nyhof, Postdoctoral Researcher
• Justin Gregory, Postdoctoral Researcher

This project was made possible by the Templeton World Charity Foundation.

Led by psychologists, Justin Barrett and Ryan Hornbeck in collaboration with Liqi Zhu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, we have examined a variety of topics related to religion and cognition among the people of China. These topics range from the study of supernatural beings in ancient Chinese texts to the study of natural cognition in children. The project is comprised of ten coordinated work-packages (WPs) involving 11 relevant experts, including collaborations between scholars from Fuller, University of Oxford, Boston University, Grand Valley State University, Cal State Fullerton, and the Chinese Academy of Science. Initial findings from six Chinese Challenge studies were released in April 2014.

Background Information

Research in the cognitive science of religion (CSR) has converged on the thesis that tendencies toward religious and spiritual thought, feelings, and actions may be part of largely invariable human nature. The fact that the world’s largest nation—China—is officially secular, allegedly has a long history of dominant non-religious philosophies, and reportedly has a large proportion of atheists challenges the naturalness of religion thesis, doesn’t it This project has been designed with two aims in mind:

• Scientifically address one of humanity’s big questions; and
• Create a blueprint for a new and growing body of scholars to continue asking and answering such questions in the world’s largest nation.

China Challenge Conference

The project concluded with the Chinese Challenge Conference held in Hong Kong on April 23, 2014, where researchers from the Thrive Center for Human Development, Boston University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and other institutions presented initial findings from their research. From this conference, we produced 13 videos  (5 introductory ones and 8 sessions); a full-color chartbook, which summarizes the project’s rationale, the experiments used, findings, and their implications; and 5 infographic reports detailing the findings in an easy-to-share format.

• Hornbeck, R. G., Barrett, J. L., & Kang, M. (2017). Religious cognition in China: “Homo religiosus” and the dragon. New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol 2. Springer, Cham. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62954-4
• Barrett J.L., Hornbeck R.G. (2017) Introduction: Homo religiosus and the dragon. In Hornbeck R., Barrett J., Kang M. (eds). Religious Cognition in China. New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol 2, 1-14. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62954-4_1
• Greenway T.S., Foley G.S., Nystrom B.C., Barrett J.L. (2017) Dogs, Santa Claus, and Sun Wukong: Children’s understanding of nonhuman minds. In Hornbeck R., Barrett J., Kang M. (eds). Religious Cognition in China. New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol 2, 97-109. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62954-4_6
• Barrett, J.L., Hornbeck, R.G., Bleeker, B.D., Barrett, S.T., Hao, C. (2017). Ritual imbalance in contemporary China: A ritual form theory analysis. In Hornbeck R., Barrett J., Kang M. (eds). Religious Cognition in China. New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol 2, 111-123. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62954-4_7
• Barrett, J.L. (2017). Religion is kid’s stuff: Minimally counterintuitive concepts are better remembered by young people. In Hornbeck R., Barrett J., Kang M. (eds). Religious Cognition in China. New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol 2, 125-137. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62954-4_8
• Nyhof, M. Intuitive foundations of conceptions of vitality: The case of Chinese children’s understanding of illness causation. In Hornbeck R., Barrett J., Kang M. (eds). Religious Cognition in China. New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol 2, 139-149. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62954-4_9
• Hornbeck, R.G. Moral cognition empowers spiritual experience in Chinese World of Warcraft. In Hornbeck R., Barrett J., Kang M. (eds). Religious Cognition in China. New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol 2, 179-194. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62954-4_12
• Hornbeck, R. G., & Barrett, J. L. (2012). Refining and testing “counterintuitiveness” in virtual reality: Cross-cultural evidence for recall of counterintuitive representations. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 23(1), 15-28. doi:10.1080/10508619.2013.735192
• Hornbeck, R. G., Bentley, B., & Barrett, J. L. (2015). Examining special patient rituals in a Chinese cultural context: A research report. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 15(5), 530–541. doi.org/10.1163/15685373-12342164

An Introduction to the Chinese Challenge Conference by Justin Barrett and Ryan Hornbeck

The Role of Children and Adolescents, In the Spread of Counterintuitive Religious-Type Ideas by Justin Gregory

Children’s Understanding of Nonhuman Minds by Justin Barrett

Personhood Concepts in China: The role of Qi (Vital Energy) by Melanie Nyhof

High Gods, Low Gods, and Morality in Ancient China: Developing New Methods, Answering Old Questions by Ryan Nicholas

Are Religious Rituals Structured by Natural Thought? by Justin Barrett

Chinese Adult’s Intuitions About Purpose in Nature by Deb Keleman

The Cognitive Foundations of Spiritual Exemplars in Chinese World of Warcraft by Ryan Hornbeck