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“It’s pretty shocking that we get the same magnitude of distrust towards atheists simply because they don’t believe [in God],” said the researcher, who is himself an atheist. “With rapists, they’re distrusted because they rape people. Atheists are viewed as sort of a moral wild card.”

Another among the six studies found people are more likely to hire someone for a job that requires high levels of trust, such as a daycare worker, if they believe they are religious. They would hire atheists for a low trust job, such as a waitress, the study found.

The levels of distrust were more pronounced among respondents who said they were religious, said Mr. Gervais. One of the studies measured how much people thought believing God is watching makes you a better person.

“That was a really strong predictor of distrust in atheists,” he said.

Those who did not identify as religious were more or less indifferent toward atheists.

The research shines a light on the oft-overlooked issue of prejudice against atheists, an issue Mr. Gervais fears could become more of an issue as their populations grow.

“The fact that we’re still finding fairly large and shocking results, such as morally equating rapists and atheists, is pretty remarkable,” he said.

A forthcoming set of his studies suggests prejudice against atheists can be reduced if people are reminded of other non-religious behaviour-monitoring authorities, such as the police, judges and the courts, Mr. Gervais said.

National Post

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