Atheists in the U.S. far more numerous than what data shows, says survey

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Atheists may only be a minority in the United States, but it appears their number has increased steadily more than what the public is told.

Both Pew Research Center and Gallup survey results indicated that around 10 percent of the American population ascribe themselves as atheists.

But University of Kentucky professor Will Gervais and doctorate student Maxine Najle are inclined to think that the number does not represent the exact count of the atheist population in the country.

"There [are lots] of atheists in the closet," said Gervais. "And... if they knew there are lots of people just like them out there, that could potentially promote tolerance."

A previous research conducted by Gervais with Ara Norenzayan and Azim Shariff showed that many people are more aware of behaving in a morally acceptable manner when they are reminded of God's presence. Since atheists are essentially "non-believers" of God, they know that people tend to trust them less.

As such, the two psychologists believe that the results of the surveys from Pew and Gallup are not accurate due to the method they used, which was to call random people and ask them questions.

To verify this, they conducted their own research to determine more accurately the number of atheists in America. They used a statement poll where participants marked the statements that stand true for them, including the sentence that says, "I believe in God."

The results of the survey showed a higher number of people who identified themselves as "non-believers," they said. While they were unable to provide a specific percentage, Gervais estimated that around 26 percent of Americans are atheists based on their findings.

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They also concluded that biases on atheists are the main reason why some refuse to identify themselves as one.

Najle told Vox, "According to our samples, about 1 in 3 atheists in our country don't feel comfortable disclosing their lack of belief."

They were inclined to believe that the reluctance of participants to answer the question hindered research firms from getting an accurate count of the current atheist population.

Gervais' and Najle's study, "How many atheists are there?" is awaiting publication in the Social Psychological and Personality Science journal.