Is There An Atheist Personality Type? (Psychology of Atheism Part 2)

Thank you to Wondrium for sponsoring today's video! Signup for your FREE trial to Wondrium here:

Psychology of Atheism Series:

Full PhD thesis:

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article:
Baker, Matthew J. (2015) Psychological type differences between churchgoers and church-leavers, Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 18:7, 622-634

International Personality Item Pool:

CREDITS:
Charts & Narration by Matt Baker
Animation by Syawish Rehman
Audio editing by Ali Shahwaiz

[UsefulCharts]

Thank you to Wondrium for sponsoring today's video! Signup for your FREE trial to Wondrium here:

[Xidnaf]

"I used Myers-Briggs instead of the big five because it's more value-neutral and more familiar to the public" is SUCH a high-agreeableness sentiment

[donnaisfairlyodd]

In college I minored in Religious Studies. I’ve struggled in recent years with depression and anxiety, losing interest in many of the things that I once found very engaging. I’ve been following your videos for quite a while, but just in the last few weeks have been able to really get back into some of my more scholarly interests, and it is because of your videos. I trust your content and it has been wonderful to be able to get back to the topics that I hold so dear. Thank you for what you do.

[weldin]

I think the main problem with the Myers-Briggs combinations you didn’t bring up is that the scales aren’t treated as scales but rather binary values. I’d say most of us land somewhere in between.

[rosspunzo]

Dear Matt,

I appreciate how much effort you always put into your videos to make it understandable to everyone and to make it where no one’s opinions or beliefs are belittled. Thanks and keep up the great work.

[DotairZee]

Psychologist here appreciating your thoughtfulness and understanding of the psychological measures involved in your research!

[Young_Anglican]

As a convert to Christianity, I would love to see a video on your findings on the personality of converts in comparison to those who grew up religious. Your videos are always so interesting. Keep up the great work!

[MosesMode]

I score very high in both agreeableness and conscientiousness, but I'm also an atheist and a vegan. It makes my life extremely difficult because of how averse I am to confrontation and how strongly people feel about both of these topics. I can definitely see how scoring low in these traits would make being an atheist easier.

[pearlofthedarkage]

I'm glad you went through the trouble explaining why you went with Myers-Briggs, because you definitely had me on pause for a moment, but I guess I'm more flexible than I give myself credit. I've always been called stubborn, so I guess I felt that was my label. You actually helped me to understand myself a little bit more, so thank you. I appreciate all the hard work you put into all your videos, and this was a great video! 💛

[aidanfehr]

I swear this man is literally the same person as me; I would usually say IN(F/T)P, I have a history degree, and I've taken a bunch of classes in religious studies and spent a lot of time reading books on the topic. Finding this channel has been amazing, it literally covers all my areas of interest. Keep up the great work!

[EvilSandwich]

That's actually incredibly interesting. Because when I took the MB test I came up solidly and consistently INFJ every time, however I quite rapidly fell into atheism and basically stayed there somewhat strictly ever since.

Then again, I did grow up in a fairly religiously neutral household. Where I did have religious parents but mostly of the non-practicing variety. So I would love to see any future studies that try to correlate upbringing with personality types and how they relate.

Because finding out that my personality type is very strongly predisposed towards religion is quite surprising to me. But fascinating.

[acarbonbasedlifeform]

Now I know why your channel is so comforting to me, and why the way you structure and present information is so easily understandable. It's because I'm an INFP too haha!

[PauxloE]

I wonder how the personality distribution would look like for "people who grew up as atheists" (and then either decided to stay atheists or pick a (deistic) religion). And similar for people switching from one religion to another vs. staying at one.
It might be that you just got the personality for "change the religion".

[PhillipAmthor]

It took so long to release the second part almost forgot that the first part was so damn interesting!

Thank you for the second part it was great as well! I would be greatful if you would make a video about the personality types of religious converts too.

[religiologEng]

I read your PhD thesis (a couple months ago). Great work! Thanks for this video!

[alistairmcelwee]

So I am INFP, and I paid for the full test (not cheap) and used it as a guide to choosing my second career. It recommended nurse or audiologist. Frankly, I think I’d have enjoyed a longer 2nd career as an audiologist, but I truly loved being an oncology nurse and would do it again tomorrow if neuropathy & osteoarthritis would let me. Such a privilege to work with cancer patients & their families in the most serious part of cancer, but, I have to say, darn hard work too to make sure that health is not compromised. But, I can totally see why using this system, as shaky as it’s origins and underpinnings may be, is quite useful.

[MalloonTarka]

INTP

Exactly what I got when I took the test. I was not raised religious, but my parents didn't tell me what to think in either way, so I did believe briefly since I went to a school that was openly religious. But I quickly left that by the wayside. And now I'm atheist.

It's really interesting how personality type can affect these types of things.

[mikethespike]

Fantastic video. Thanks. But I do have one peeve. As an introvert I assure you, not all introverts are shy. I'm perfectly ready to make a stand in front of people if I have good reason to, such as in meetings. I've also held lectures in front of hundreds of people, many of them my peers. What I have problems with is standing out among a crowd just for the sake of it. I'll tell a joke among two or three friends, but I'm hopeless in front of an audience. I'm great at parties if they are small affairs with people I already know. But anything involving a crowd of strangers will make me quietly back up into a corner and wait for the best time to leave without it looking impolite. Strangers at my door are a pain for me, but I'm completely alright if it's one of my neighbours. The same goes for my telephone. I hate it when it rings and doesn't show the name of someone I know.
Some perceive that as being shy. It's not shyness, it's just the bother of having to engage with people I know nothing about and don't want to know anything about.

[safetinspector]

0:22 I appreciate that you kept “postitive” in there. Continuity is important

[nobeliefisok]

Thanks for posting another good video. 🤗 I enjoy the pace of your presentation and your usage of graphics (I do have to pause occasionally on data rich slides). In this case, its also a topic I already had an interest in prior to knowing your video would exist. I have made the claim "If people quit using their feelings to determine what to believe, maybe they would quit jumping to conclusions" But I also expect most people to want a conclusion so much if they cant rely on logic and evidence they will resort to feelings. These directly tie into my thoughts on religiosity and match the results you have shared from your thesis.

The Briggs Myers personality test results for me have been consistently INT(J/P). It has bothered me since becoming aware of agreeableness being associated with the (T/F) measure, and I think this is because of the thinking vs feeling label. I have an extreme logic and evidence based mindset (100%). But I also at times will suppress on-purpose this part of my worldview in order to experience others views, and participate with a group from within though internally I know something is not supported by evidence, or is completely wrong. Until I decide to no longer do so. 🤓 This behavior of mine has led my closest friends to know they should directly ask me what I think instead of assuming, since I am going along with the group. I always tell them the truth when asked, and why I am not pursuing it.