Core Research
Our core research project addresses two main questions.
1. What are the most powerful general causal factors that bring about atheism and other forms of non-belief?
2. How do these general causal factors manifest in the lives and self-understanding of particular individuals?
We have been testing promising and popular theories of the causes of atheism and other forms of non-belief across diverse cultural contexts. We have aimed to do so in a way that does not conflate different meanings of ‘atheism’, that draws on the perspectives and methodologies of several disciplines, and that recognizes the complexities of testing causal claims.
Our method brings together large-scale surveys across Brazil, China, Denmark, Japan, the UK, and the US to examine the relevance of over two dozen hypothesized causes of non-theism. Alongside this, we are carrying out secondary analysis of hundreds of in-depth interviews with non-theists from these countries, analyzing how hypothesized causal factors may be playing out in the lives of individuals.
Interim findings from the Core Research
What does its first ‘atheist age’ mean for the UK?
Filmed in October 2024 at Conway Hall London. For the first time in our history atheists outnumber theists in Britain. To explore what it might mean to live in an atheist society, Principal Investigators Lois Lee and Aiyana Willard were joined in conversation by Daisy Scalchi, BBC Head of Religion and Ethics; Chine McDonald, Director of Theos the religion and society think tank; Dr Will Gervais from Brunel University London and Cariad Lloyd comedian and host of the Griefcast podcast.
Atheism Explained? conference
This presentation from our capstone conference ‘Atheism Explained?’ held at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History in June 2024 presents interim findings drawn primarily from UK populations.
Publications from this project are forthcoming, check our Publications page for updates