Psychology of Belief, Part 2: Insufficient Justification

Thank you for helping me with my exam preparations ;)

Reading about this experiment is one thing, but now I'll have that folk music in mind. Helps to memorize.

To debunk believe with psychology is an interesting approach, by the way. It has more substance than philosophical arguments.

Looking forward to see more

Thanks for the refences at the end, i find it worth the time reading.

Another good video. I'm not sure I agree with your first statement, that 'one generates belief by expressing it'. The scary preacher at the start was pointing out the importance of 'gnosis' vs 'episteme'. That experientiel knowledge is the best to solidify belief within the believer. If that's what he's trying to convey then I agree, gnosis is always superior to doxa, the latter invariably being vicarious.

Great vid on insufficient justification though, enough to guide me to Bem and Aronson

OK I'm a little confused. The reward aspect doesn't actually matter other than that it was used to confirm the fact that you can generate belief just through 'testifying' to something right?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't someone believing out of the desire for heaven and fear of hell not qualify under the " Insufficient Justification"?

Correct. Insufficient Justification is simply what happens when you come to believe in something merely by expressing the belief. The rewards of heaven and hell do not apply in this case. In fact, if "heaven" is a conscious motivation in your mind, then insufficient justification probably won't work.

In the test the subjects were encouraged to lie to people, stating that the task was fun and enjoyable. Christians are told that you will be hated, despised, ridiculed, and sometimes imprisoned and killed for following Jesus. Yet people still pursue him with all their hearts. Rather than being paid to give a favorable report, many thousands of people are stripped of all possessions and imprisoned. How would you account for that response?

@IndianaJesusfreak

There are many benefits to being a Christian which outweigh the disadvantages you mention.
1. If you live in a religious family and/or community you will be emotionally rewarded for your beliefs.
2. If you believe you have answers to the big questions such as "What's the meaning of life?", "Is there a God?", and "Is there life after death?" you will be rewarded emotionally.
3. People get imprisoned for their beliefs all the time. It helps propagate their cause.

You bring up an interesting point. So for starters, I would like to emphasize one thing:

These videos present only the tip of an iceberg. Social psychology is a very vast and rich field. The inability for insufficient justification to account for ALL religious conversions is not the issue here. The issue is a demonstrable willingness for religious leaders to exploit the effect. There is also a vast toolbox of other biases that readily create belief under all sorts of other conditions.

[Christians are told that you will be hated, despised, ridiculed, and sometimes imprisoned and killed for following Jesus]

Surely you realize that this is hardly the case in the vast majority of Christian converts, especially in the US. And surely you also realize that they are promised eternal happiness for sticking it out, while their persecutors are promised an everlasting torment. This is hardly a self-sacrificing motivation.