also tend to be people seeking to

The history of the Christian church, the pursuit of personal desire has been frowned upon and at times even fervently discouraged.

But a new theory of why people believe in God has claimed that religion is simply an attempt to satisfy 16 basic human desires that afflict all human beings.

Professor Steven Reiss, a psychologist at Ohio State University, claims this may also help to explain why many of the world's major religions are so wracked with contradictions.

Religious belief is more about meeting a complex mix of 16 basic human desires than an attempt to find a greater meaning, according to psychologist Professor Steven Reiss. He says people will seek out religion to help them feel part of a family, for example, such as during Catholic mass (pictured)

He insists it's impossible to boil religion down to a single motivation and that to be successful a religion needs to appeal to the various of human nature.

So while people who are humble may find the idea of an all-powerful God appealing, those who are status seeking will find the idea that God made humans in his own image attractive.

THE 16 DESIRES THAT MAKES RELIGION APPEAL TO MAN Curiosity Acceptance Family Honour Idealism Independence Order Physical activity Power Romance Saving Social contact Status Tranquility Eating Vengeance Advertisement

Professor Reiss said: 'It doesn't matter whether God exists or not as religious belief is aimed at fulfilling our basic human desires.

'If you want to build a religion that will have a lot of followers, you have to address all of the human desires in strong form and weak form.

'If you insist the only way to reach God is through mediation and study then extroverts will stay away while if you teach the opposite then introverts will stay away.

'You have to have a religion that will support the values of all these people.'

Professor Reiss argues previous attempts to explain religion in terms of psychology have been too narrow by focusing on its ability to provide a moral framework or a way of coping with death.

Writing in a new book The 16 Strivings for God, he says religions instead address all 16 of the basic human desires at once - curiosity, acceptance, family, honor, idealism, independence, order, physical activity, power, romance, saving, social contact, eating, status, tranquility and vengeance.

He said that while everyone has these basic desires, they experience them in different levels and so their motivations will be different.

His conclusion looking at motivation after surveying 100,000 people about how they embrace different goals.

Psychologist Professor Steven Reiss (left) claims religion can be boiled down to an attempt to fulfil the 16 basic desires that afflict humans in his new book (right)

Professor Reiss said: 'We have looked at about 270 different religious beliefs and practices and how they connect to basic human desires.

FLOODS AND FAMINE MAY HAVE KICKSTARTED WORLD'S RELIGIONS They often form a central part of most biblical stories, but it appears that floods, famines and plagues may have also helped to start belief in some gods in the first place. Researchers at North Carolina State University found that belief in all-powerful and moralising gods tended to appear at times of hardship in human history. They claim that believing in such a supreme deity helps to ensure people within a society live by certain moral rules that are necessary when living in harsh environments or in times of hardship. The researchers studied the origins of 583 religious societies around the world. They compared these to climate, rainfall and plant growth data for each area to build up a historical picture of the conditions each society was living in. The findings may help to shed light on how religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam first emerged and why stories of hardship play such a central role. Advertisement

'I think just about everything in religion is an expression of one of the 16 basic desires or a combination of them.

'For example, if you are extremely ambitious, you will value achievement much more than the normal person. God is seen as the creator of the universe, which must be the ultimate achievement, so that will appeal to you.

'If you are a penitent person, then in the wrath of god in the bible will have value to you. But if you are the opposite personality type – a peacekeeper – you will be turned off by a wrathful god.

'They instead have the God of turning the other cheek.

'Religion comes in opposites to be attractive to different personalities of the population.'

Differences in individual desires can also help to explain why certain people will embrace one particular religion over another.

The tradition of unity within the Catholic Church and the idea of its followers being part of a 'flock', for example, is a major draw for those who have a strong desire for family, says Professor Reiss.

In some cases it can also help determine whether someone believes in a religion at all.

Professor Reiss claims that certain practices like Holy Communion in the Catholic faith may be part of an unwitting attempt to fulfill basic human desires

Professor Reiss said: 'A strong desire for independence pushes you towards self-reliance. You don't really want to rely upon anything and these people are more likely to be atheists.

'On the other hand people who want very low amounts of independence will be attracted by the interdependence of religion and the organisation of the church.

'Religion also needs to compete with secular society so if people find they can satisfy their desires more effectively in a secular way than through religion they are more likely to turn to this.'