87 Sevinç, Mehmedoğlu / İnançsızlığa Yönelmede Çevresel ve Entelektüel Faktörlerin Etkisi Öz

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Sevinç, Mehmedoğlu / İnançsızlığa Yönelmede Çevresel ve Entelektüel Faktörlerin Etkisi

önemli bir yere oturmalıdır. Nitekim inançlı bireyler de kendi inançlarının entelektüel fak-

törlerin etkisiyle oluştuğunu düşünebilmektedir. Oysa dini inancın da çoğunlukla çevresel 

faktörlerin etkisiyle oluştuğu muhtemeldir.

İleride yapılacak araştırmalar ve din psikolojisi alanı için çeşitli önerilerde bulunmak 

mümkündür. Din psikolojisi literatürü içerisinde inanç psikolojisi başlığı altında veya yeni 

bir başlık şeklinde inançsızlık psikolojisi ele alınmalıdır. İnançsızlığın yapısıyla ve nasıl 

oluştuğuyla ilgili daha fazla çalışma yapılmasına ihtiyaç duyulmaktadır. Çünkü inançsızlık, 

farklı tipleri olan çok boyutlu bir olgudur. Örneğin, inançsızlık ile eğitimli olmak arasındaki 

ilişkiyi daha iyi ortaya koyabilmek için Türkiye’de seçkin bilim insanlarının inanç-inançsızlık 

eğilimleri ve daha sonra da nasıl bir sosyal çevreden geldikleri ele alınabilir. Ayrıca dünya 

din psikolojisi literatüründe örneğine çok az rastlanan IQ ile inanç-inançsızlık arasındaki 

ilişkiye dair araştırmalar, bilişsel kabiliyetlerin artmasıyla inançsızlığa yönelmenin başladığı 

iddiasına ışık tutacaktır. Cevap bekleyen bir diğer soru ise inançsızlığın bir kişilik tipiyle 

ilişkili olup olmadığıdır. Bu konuda henüz hiçbir çalışma yapılmamıştır. Din psikolojisi alanı 

içerisinde inançsızlık konusu henüz çok yeni sayılabileceği için, bu konudaki araştırmalarda 

kullanılacak yeterli sayıda ölçek bulunmamaktadır. Türkçe ölçeklerin geliştirilmesine büyük 

bir ihtiyaç duyulmaktadır.

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İnsan & Toplum

Introduction

The term nonbelief generally includes approaches such as atheism, agnosticism, and apa-

theism, which mean not having a religious or spiritual belief. Currently, the number of non-

believers is increasing rapidly (Brown, 2013, p. 232; Vermeer, 2013, p. 80; Baker and Smith, 

2009, p. 719; Hunsberger and Altemeyer, 2006). Nonbelief is defined as the absence of 

belief in God/gods or supernatural agents, and thus does not express the absence of belief 

in its absolute meaning. Epistemologically, belief and nonbelief are in the same position, for 

both are attitudes about the existence of God or supernatural agents (Ganzevoort, 1994, p. 

24). Being a nonbeliever is basically an attitude change. An attitude, commonly understood 

to refers to a person’s considerations, evaluations, and reactions to any event or phenom-

enon, is formed by a combination of emotional, behavioral, and cognitive components 

(Atkinson et al., 2010, p. 625). 

Approximately 70% of all nonbelievers believed in God at some point in their lives (Streib 

and Klein, 2013, p. 716), but then abandoned their religious/spiritual beliefs due to the 

influence of various factors. When we look at the literature to determine these factors, we 

can see that there are a wide range of them, all of which can be categorized under three 

main headings according to attitude components: (1) social factors (behavioral), (2) psy-

chic/emotional factors (emotional), and (3) intellectual/cognitive factors (cognitive). 

At this point, the discussion should turn to which factor group is the most influential in 

this regard. Many studies show that there is a positive relationship between one’s level of 

education and nonbelief (Beit-Hallahmi and Argyle, 1997; Silver, 2013; Smith, 2011; Baker 

and Smith, 2009; Beit-Hallahmi, 2007; Keysar and Navarro-Rivera, 2013; Hunsberger and 

Altemeyer, 2006; Caldwell-Harris, 2011). A second view posits that social factors (e.g., one’s 

social environment, family relationships, social structure, and religious background) are 

more influential than intellectual factors (Brown, 1966; Mauss, 1969; Beit-Hallahmi and 

Argyle, 1997; Caplovitz and Sherrow, 1977; Oser, 1994; Voas and McAndrew, 2012; Spray 

and Marx, 1969; Wilson and Sherkat, 1994; Shand, 2000). 

The Effects of Social and Intellectual Factors on  

Being a Nonbeliever

*

Kenan Sevinç

**

,  Ali Ulvi Mehmedoğlu

***

Extended Abstract

*   This article is derived from Kenan Sevinç’s doctoral dissertation titled “Formation and Development of Un-

belief from Psycho-social Perspective”

**   Ast. Prof., Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. Correspon-

dence: [e-mail] Address: ÇOMÜ İlahiyat Fakültesi, Çanakkale.

**   Prof., Marmara University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. Correspondence: aliulvi@mar-

mara.edu.tr Address: Marmara Üniversitesi, İlahiyat Fakültesi.

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Sevinç, Mehmedoğlu / The Effects of Social and Intellectual Factors on Being a Nonbeliever

The first approach argues that the change of attitude toward nonbelief is cognitive, where-

as the second approach argues that it is affective. At this point, the question is as follows: If 

becoming nonbeliever is a change of attitude, is this change mostly cognitive or affective?

Procedure

After reviewing the literature on nonbelief, our basic hypothesis was established: Social and 

emotional factors have priority over intellectual factors in terms of becoming a nonbeliever. 

We therefore decided to conduct both quantitative and qualitative research in order to bet-

ter determine why a believer becomes a nonbeliever.

Our research sample comprised individuals aged 18 and above. Purposive sampling methods, 

(typical case sampling, and snowball sampling) were used. A total of 502 participants in Turkey 

were given the questionnaire during June 2015. Interviews were held between October 2014 

and July 2015 with 32 participants: 10 foreign nationals and 22 Turks who self-identified as 

nonbelievers. We employed the following data collection tools: a personal information form, a 

belief assessment form, DİSOL (The Turkish Scale of Nonreligiosity and Nonspirituality) (Sevinç 

et al., 2015), EDEİ (The Scale of Relationship with Parents in Adolescence Period), İNÖ (The Scale 

of Reasons of Nonbelief), and a semi-structured interview form. 

Results

Of the participants, 70% were male and 30% were female. The mean age was 30 (SD=10.9). 

Almost half (53%) of them were undergraduate or graduate students, 49% had a monthly 

income between 1,000 and 3,000 Turkish liras, 66% were single, 71.7% were of Sunni 

Muslim background, and 63.5% were nonbelievers. 

The data revealed that the rate of nonbelief among men (72%) is higher than that among 

women (46.5%), as is the DİSOL rate (nonreligiosity/nonspirituality) score: (=4.05 SD=1.15) 

and (=3.59 SD=1.25) (p=.000), respectively. The rate of nonbelief among the residents of the 

metropolitan area and their average DİSOL score (=4.11 SD=1.06) are higher than those of 

the other groups. The average DİSOL score of the less-educated participants (=4.08 SD=1.07) 

is higher than the average score of those who have a bachelor’s degree or above (=3.78 

SD=1.29) (p<.05). A very high proportion of nonbelievers (78.68%) hold leftist political views. 

When the results of the İNÖ are examined (Chart 2 [Grafik 2]), one sees that a low DİSOL 

score indicates social factors, whereas a high DİSOL score indicates intellectual factors. The 

intellectual subscale score decreases with the DİSOL score (Chart 2), and there is a posi-

tive correlation between the two variables (r =.557; p <.01). These results reveal that both 

groups are aware of the reasons for nonbelief. In other words, believers and nonbelievers 

are aware that what is pointed out as the cause of nonbelief is important in terms of justify-

ing their own choices.

The most important component of intellectual development is the level of education that 

one has attained. For this reason, those who emphasize intellectual reasons should be 

expected to have a higher level of education. When the relationship between this factor 

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