Sense-making through science
Threat compensation without external control opens up the possibility of venturing beyond the established defensive compensatory strategies, which often involve religious and socio-political endorsement of external systems and intergroup phenomena (Rutjens et al., 2012). Indeed, we have described some initial evidence for the contention that such compensatory order can be found in the realm of science. Certain scientific theories, beliefs, and worldviews –such as stage theories and faith in scientific progress – seem particularly well-suited to imbue our environment with order. In other words, science can help to psychologically make sense of the world. This opens up exciting avenues for future research. For example, given the hydraulic relationship between external sources of control (Kay et al., 2010), it would be fascinating to explore whether this substitutability would also hold for scientific versus religious and socio-political worldviews. Whereas religious and socio-political beliefs might often converge (Kay et al., 2010), science and religion compete for the same explananda (Preston & Epley, 2009) and as such are often argued to be incompatible. Given this historically complex relationship between science and religion (Blancke et al., 2011), it remains to be seen to what extent they will prove to be entirely intersubstitutable sources of order when people are trying to make sense of the world.
References
Blancke, S., De Smedt, J., De Cruz, H., Boudry, M., & Braeckman, J. (2011). The implications of the cognitive sciences for the relation between religion and science education: The case of evolutionary theory. Science & Education, 21, 1167–1184.
Brunner, E. (1972). Eternal Hope. Westport: Greenwood Press (originally published in 1954).
Bury, J. B. (1955). The idea of progress: An inquiry into its origin and growth. New York: Dover Publications (originally published in 1920).
Conway-Morris, S. (2005). Life’s solution: inevitable humans in a lonely universe. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.
Fritsche, I., Jonas, E., & Fankhanel, T. (2008). The role of control motivation in mortality salience effects on ingroup support and defense. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 524-541.
Gray, J. (2004). Heresies: Against progress and other illusions. London:Granta Books.
Gray, J. (2007). Black mass: Apocalyptic religion and the death of Utopia. London: Allen Lane.
Kay, A. C., Gaucher, D., Napier, J. L., Callan, M. J., Laurin, K. (2008). God and the government: Testing a compensatory control mechanism for the support of external systems. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 18-35.
Kay, A. C., Moscovitch, D. A., & Laurin, K. (2010). Randomness, attributions of arousal, and belief in God. Psychological Science, 21, 216-218.
Kay, A. C., Whitson, J. A., Gaucher, D., & Galinsky, A. D. (2009). Compensatory control: Achieving order through the mind, our institutions, and the heavens. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18, 264-268.
Kay, A. C., Shepherd, S., Blatz, C. W., Chua, S. N., & Galinsky, A. D. (2010). For God (or) country: The hydraulic relation between government instability and belief in religious sources of control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(5), 725-739.
Keinan, G. (2002). The effects of stress and desire for control on superstitious behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 102-108.
Kohlberg, L. (1958). The development of modes of thinking and choices in years 10 to 16. Ph. D. Dissertation, University of Chicago.
Kray, L. J., George, L. G., Liljenquist, K. A., Galinsky, A. D., Tetlock, P. E.,
Roese, N. J. (2010). From what might have been to what must have been: Counterfactual thinking creates meaning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98, 106-118.
Kruglanski, A. W., & Webster, D. M. (1996). Motivated closing of the mind: “seizing” and “freezing.” Psychological Review, 103, 263–283.
Landau, M. J., Johns, M., Greenberg, J., Pyszczynski, T., Martens, A., Goldenberg, J. L., et al. (2004). A function of form: Terror management and structuring the social world. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 190-210.
Langer, E. J. (1975). The illusion of control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32, 311-328.
Lerner, M. J. (1980). The belief in a just world: A fundamental delusion. New York: Plenum.
Meijers, M. H. C., & Rutjens, B. T. Questioning science fosters sustainable behavior. Manuscript under review.
Norenzayan, A., & Lee, A. (2010). It was meant to happen: Explaining cultural variations in fate attributions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(5), 702-720.
Pittman, T. S. (1998). Motivation. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske & G. Lindzey (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (Vol. 1, 4th ed., 549–590). New York: MacGraw-Hill.
article author(s)
Bastiaan Rutjens
Bastiaan Rutjens received his PhD at the University of Amsterdam in 2012. After working as a postdoctoral fellow at UBC (Vancouver) for one year, he...more
Frenk van Harreveld
Frenk van Harreveld is an associate professor of social psychology. His research concerns various aspects of uncertainty. Frenk's research on attitudes...more
Joop van der Pligt
Joop van der Pligt is a full professor of Social Psychology. His research focuses on risk perception and the acceptability of risks. Both health-...more