Secular rationalism correlates with higher belief in magic among religious adults

Sociologists Paul Froese, Isaiah King, and Ruiqian Li analyzed survey data from 1,812 adults in the 2025 Baylor Religion Survey to examine how supernatural beliefs persist as religious authority weakens.

The researchers looked at how people balance a trust in science and reason with their personal spiritual views. They focused on a specific outlook called secular rationalism, which combines the belief that science is the primary way to understand the world with an emphasis on independent interpretation of spiritual teachings.

The study found that people with high scores in secular rationalism were less likely to believe in miracles but more likely to believe in magic and everyday superstitions. This trend was most noticeable among individuals who maintained religious ties, such as identifying with a religion or attending services. For these people, the independence from institutional authority allowed them to choose their own supernatural beliefs, such as ghosts or curses, even while they embraced a scientific worldview.

The researchers suggested that questioning religious authority does not automatically lead people to abandon supernatural ideas. Instead, people may combine faith and scientific trust with their own personal spiritual judgments. The study did not test how these beliefs develop over time or prove that trusting science causes magical thinking. The findings were published in Social Forces.