What Do You Mean, “What Does It All Mean?” Atheism, Nonreligion, and Life Meaning
Nonreligion is often thought to be commensurate with nihilism or fatalism, resulting in the perception that the nonreligious have no source of meaning in life. While views to this effect have been advanced in various arenas, no empirical evaluation of such a view has been conducted. Using data from...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2018-01-01
|
| Series: | SAGE Open |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244017754238 |
| _version_ | 1828909592804851712 |
|---|---|
| author | David Speed Thomas J. Coleman Joseph Langston |
| author_facet | David Speed Thomas J. Coleman Joseph Langston |
| author_sort | David Speed |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Nonreligion is often thought to be commensurate with nihilism or fatalism, resulting in the perception that the nonreligious have no source of meaning in life. While views to this effect have been advanced in various arenas, no empirical evaluation of such a view has been conducted. Using data from the 2008 American General Social Survey ( N = ~1,200), we investigated whether atheists, the religiously unaffiliated, and persons raised religiously unaffiliated were more likely than theists, the religiously affiliated, and persons raised with a religious affiliation to report greater levels of fatalism, nihilism, and the perception that meaning in life is self-provided. Results suggested that these groups did not differ with regard to fatalism or nihilism. However, atheists and the religiously unaffiliated (but not persons raised in a religiously unaffiliated household) were more likely to indicate that meaning in life was endogenous—that is, self-produced. While atheists and the nonreligious differed from their counterparts on source of meaning in life, this was not associated with any “penalty” for overall existential meaning. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T18:30:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a40fa00990fe4564b1a9182688320f99 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2158-2440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T18:30:47Z |
| publishDate | 2018-01-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | SAGE Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-a40fa00990fe4564b1a9182688320f992022-12-21T23:35:30ZengSAGE PublishingSAGE Open2158-24402018-01-01810.1177/2158244017754238What Do You Mean, “What Does It All Mean?” Atheism, Nonreligion, and Life MeaningDavid Speed0Thomas J. Coleman1Joseph Langston2Newfoundland & Labrador Centre for Applied Health Research, Saint John’s, NL, CanadaCoventry University, UKU.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO, USANonreligion is often thought to be commensurate with nihilism or fatalism, resulting in the perception that the nonreligious have no source of meaning in life. While views to this effect have been advanced in various arenas, no empirical evaluation of such a view has been conducted. Using data from the 2008 American General Social Survey ( N = ~1,200), we investigated whether atheists, the religiously unaffiliated, and persons raised religiously unaffiliated were more likely than theists, the religiously affiliated, and persons raised with a religious affiliation to report greater levels of fatalism, nihilism, and the perception that meaning in life is self-provided. Results suggested that these groups did not differ with regard to fatalism or nihilism. However, atheists and the religiously unaffiliated (but not persons raised in a religiously unaffiliated household) were more likely to indicate that meaning in life was endogenous—that is, self-produced. While atheists and the nonreligious differed from their counterparts on source of meaning in life, this was not associated with any “penalty” for overall existential meaning.https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244017754238 |
| spellingShingle | David Speed Thomas J. Coleman Joseph Langston What Do You Mean, “What Does It All Mean?” Atheism, Nonreligion, and Life Meaning SAGE Open |
| title | What Do You Mean, “What Does It All Mean?” Atheism, Nonreligion, and Life Meaning |
| title_full | What Do You Mean, “What Does It All Mean?” Atheism, Nonreligion, and Life Meaning |
| title_fullStr | What Do You Mean, “What Does It All Mean?” Atheism, Nonreligion, and Life Meaning |
| title_full_unstemmed | What Do You Mean, “What Does It All Mean?” Atheism, Nonreligion, and Life Meaning |
| title_short | What Do You Mean, “What Does It All Mean?” Atheism, Nonreligion, and Life Meaning |
| title_sort | what do you mean what does it all mean atheism nonreligion and life meaning |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244017754238 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT davidspeed whatdoyoumeanwhatdoesitallmeanatheismnonreligionandlifemeaning AT thomasjcoleman whatdoyoumeanwhatdoesitallmeanatheismnonreligionandlifemeaning AT josephlangston whatdoyoumeanwhatdoesitallmeanatheismnonreligionandlifemeaning |