RETRACTED: Declines in Religiosity Predict Increases in Violent Crime—but Not Among Countries With Relatively High Average IQ

Clark, Cory J.; Winegard, Bo M.; Beardslee, Jordan; Baumeister, Roy F.; Shariff, Azim F.

doi:10.1177/0956797619897915

RETRACTED: Declines in Religiosity Predict Increases in Violent Crime—but Not Among Countries With Relatively High Average IQ

Clark, Cory J.; Winegard, Bo M.; Beardslee, Jordan; Baumeister, Roy F.; Shariff, Azim F.

Authors

Cory J. Clark

Bo M. Winegard

Jordan Beardslee

Roy F. Baumeister

Azim F. Shariff

Abstract

The following article has been retracted at the request of the authors. Further information can be found at https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620941437

Many scholars have argued that religion reduces violent behavior within human social groups. Here, we tested whether intelligence moderates this relationship. We hypothesized that religion would have greater utility for regulating violent behavior among societies with relatively lower average IQs than among societies with relatively more cognitively gifted citizens. Two studies supported this hypothesis. Study 1, a longitudinal analysis from 1945 to 2010 (with up to 176 countries and 1,046 observations), demonstrated that declines in religiosity were associated with increases in homicide rates—but only in countries with relatively low average IQs. Study 2, a multiverse analysis (171 models) using modern data (97–195 countries) and various controls, consistently confirmed that lower rates of religiosity were more strongly associated with higher homicide rates in countries with lower average IQ. These findings raise questions about how secularization might differentially affect groups of different mean cognitive ability.

Citation

Clark, C. J., Winegard, B. M., Beardslee, J., Baumeister, R. F., & Shariff, A. F. RETRACTED: Declines in Religiosity Predict Increases in Violent Crime—but Not Among Countries With Relatively High Average IQ. Psychological Science, 31(2), 170-183. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797619897915

Journal Article Type	Article
Deposit Date	Feb 4, 2020
Publicly Available Date	Jul 2, 2020
Journal	Psychological Science
Print ISSN	0956-7976
Electronic ISSN	1467-9280
Publisher	SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	31
Issue	2
Pages	170-183
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797619897915
Public URL	https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1278192
Related Public URLs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620941437