There But for the Grace of God: Counterfactuals Influence Religious Belief and Images of the Divine

Past research suggests that thinking counterfactually leads to a perception that major life events are fated or predetermined. We hypothesized that a perception that events are fated will activate perceptions that God played a role in the event, which will increase feelings of religiousness. Because most people view God as a positive influence, we hypothesized that this would only happen when imagining how events might have turned out worse (i.e., downward counterfactuals). Across two experiments, we examined the hypothesis that thinking counterfactually increases religiosity. The studies supported our predictions. Generating counterfactuals increased belief in God and religiosity across several variables. Furthermore, evidence was found for the proposed pathway. In summary, the studies provided strong and consistent empirical support for counterfactual thinking’s role in religious faith and for this effect to be due to increased perceptions of God’ role in the event. Implications for religion, cognition, and counterfactual thinking are discussed.