While belief in God and religiosity is experiencing a steady decline in the United States, many religiously unaffiliated Americans, including atheists, are still shackled by the social stigma that leaves them vulnerable to isolation and poor mental health outcomes.
That’s according to a year-long study recently conducted by Dena Abbott, an assistant professor of counseling psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her research investigated the psychological well-being of two groups of atheists: female atheists and atheists living in rural areas. Despite declining religiosity among Americans, the study was performed amidst persisting anti-atheist discrimination in the United States.
Thrilled to share this new publication in @APA_Journals centering the experiences of #atheists in rural parts of the US. Key takeaways coming soon! https://t.co/sQM2KfvPW6 pic.twitter.com/L3APy2nULu
— Dr. Dena Abbott (@DrDenaAbbott) May 9, 2023
The project was also funded through a grant funded by the Office of Research and Economic Development Research Council. In her study, Abbott tried to examine the relationship between the psychological well-being of atheists and other factors, such as experiences with discrimination and microaggressions, as well as atheist identity and outness.
For the study, Abbott recruited 600 atheists as participants, with 300 of them female and the rest living in rural areas. The participants provided insightful data on the microaggressions and outright discrimination they received because of their non-belief. In addition, Abbott learned about their psychological distress, well-being, and strengths.
Her study revealed that many atheists in the United States still face plenty of social and psychological challenges, and many are uncomfortable expressing their non-belief to other people.
“Both rural and woman-identifying atheists were thoughtful about not sharing large parts of their worldview,” Abbott said regarding the study.
New research by @DrDenaAbbott, assistant professor of counseling psychology, reveals that because American #atheists experience a variety of social challenges, many are not comfortable disclosing their non-belief. Learn more ›› https://t.co/P502QsPENK #UNLCEHS pic.twitter.com/ZD1isHU16V
— Nebraska CYFS (@UNL_CYFS) April 27, 2023
The data also showed that many women raised in Christian households found atheism liberating from the expectations of religious women. Although the participants said they did not frequently experience anti-atheist discrimination, they said that Christian authority and the expectation to adapt to Christian norms gave them more psychological distress than individual acts of anti-atheist discrimination.
One major stereotype that female atheists often reported is that non-atheists viewed them as “sexually immoral.” Atheists living in rural areas also experienced more challenges, such as lack of access to secular healthcare and receiving threats, than their urban counterparts.
Abbott plans to use the findings from her study to create a handbook that will guide mental health professionals on how to work with non-religious clients.
“How important your identity feels to you, and the amount of discrimination you experience or internalize, has implications for your psychological well-being and happiness, as well as mental health and psychological distress,” Abbott said.
