title: God and the government: testing a compensatory control mechanism for the support of external systems.
abstract: The authors propose that the high levels of support often observed for governmental and religious systems can be explained, in part, as a means of coping with the threat posed by chronically or situationally fluctuating levels of perceived personal control. Three experiments demonstrated a causal relation between lowered perceptions of personal control and the defense of external systems, including increased beliefs in the existence of a controlling God (Studies 1 and 2) and defense of the overarching socio-political system (Study 4). A 4th experiment (Study 5) showed the converse to be true: A challenge to the usefulness of external systems of control led to increased illusory perceptions of personal control. In addition, a cross-national data set demonstrated that lower levels of personal control are associated with higher support for governmental control (across 67 nations; Study 3). Each study identified theoretically consistent moderators and mediators of these effects. The implications of these results for understanding why a high percentage of the population believes in the existence of God, and why people so often endorse and justify their socio-political systems, are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada. ackay@uwaterloo.ca
authors.forename: Aaron C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Kay
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gaucher
authors.forename: Jamie L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Napier
authors.forename: Mitchell J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Callan
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Laurin
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003469:Culture; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D006076:Government; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D011056:Political Systems; D011593:Psychology, Social; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012944:Social Support