The Religious Residue Effect: Cross-Cultural Evidence that Religious Psychology Persists after De-Identification

Abstract

More than 1 billion people worldwide report no religious affiliation. These religious “nones” represent the world’s third largest religious group and are a diverse group, with some having previous religious identification and others never identifying as religious. We examined how three forms of religious identification—current, former, and never—influence a range of cognitions, emotions, and behavior. Two studies (N=4,697) using nationally representative samples of religious Western culture (United States) and secular Western (Netherlands) and Eastern (Hong Kong) cultures showed evidence of a religious residue effect: formerly religious individuals differed from never religious and currently religious individuals in cognitive, emotional, and behavioral processes. Study 1 (n=3,071) offered initial cross-cultural evidence, which was extended in a preregistered replication study that also included measures of charitable contribution (Study 2; n=1,626). This research has broad implications for understanding changing global trends in religious identification and their implications for psychology and behavior.