Explanation:

religious belief helps INDIVIDUALS to cope with stress and anxiety. But is this effect specific to supernatural beliefs, or is it a more GENERAL function of belief — including belief in SCIENCE? We DEVELOPED a measure of belief in science and conducted two experiments in which we manipulated stress and existential anxiety. In Experiment 1, we assessed rowers about to compete (high-stress condition) and rowers at a training session (low-stress condition). As predicted, rowers in the high-stress group reported greater belief in science. In Experiment 2, participants primed with mortality (vs. participants in a control condition) reported greater belief in science. In both experiments, belief in science was negatively correlated with religiosity. Thus, some secular individuals may use science as a form of “faith” that helps them to deal with stressful and anxiety-provoking situations.

Keywords: Belief, Belief in science, Religious belief, Stress, Existential anxiety