Religiosity and spirituality: An analysis of belief-based differences in moral and political attitudes

<p><strong>In New Zealand we have seen a decrease in those identifying as religious, and an increase in those identifying as spiritual. There are countless studies of how religious belief, and lack of, is associated with morality, values, and political belief but, as more and more people turn to non-denominational spirituality as an alternative way to practice faith, research is needed to understand how this growing population thinks and behaves. In Study One, several existing New Zealand datasets (Study 1A: from the Brainscan Survey, N = 4,023, Study 2A: from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values panel survey series [Time 3.5: N = 1,466], [Time 12: N = 37,745], [Time 13: N = 33,274]) were analysed to determine an overall picture of how these different belief systems are associated with, or potentially influence, moral, political and social attitudes. I found that, overall, results align with previous scholarship whereby ‘spiritual’ people tended to endorse Universalism, were more politically liberal, and endorsed Harm/Care moral foundations. Religious people tended to more strongly endorse Tradition, were more politically conservative, and endorsed Ingroup Loyalty and Fairness/Reciprocity moral foundations. Although these findings were robust, these separate constructs were spread over four datasets. Study Two aimed to remedy this, and involved a questionnaire completed by a sample of psychology undergraduates (N = 275), that assessed Moral Foundations, associated vignettes, political orientation, and attitudes towards groups. I found significant differences between the groups for all of the Moral Foundations (except Fairness/Reciprocity), political orientation, support for some of the New Zealand political parties (notably the National Party, Act Party, and the New Conservatives), and some attitudes towards groups (e.g. spiritual people had greater warmth towards those with a mental illness). Ultimately, these studies not only add to what we know about how belief manifests in people’s morality, attitudes, and eventual behaviour, but they have also included a large subset of the New Zealand’s population that is often overlooked under the umbrella of ‘atheist’, when in fact they hold faith-based beliefs.</strong></p>