Date of Conferral

10-8-2026

Date of Award

October 2026

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Silvia Bigatti

Abstract

There is a limited understanding of how deeply rooted religious and cultural beliefs influence individuals' acceptance of scientific authority and information, especially in non-Western societies where religion plays a central role in social life. This quantitative, nonexperimental correlational study was designed to investigate the link between religiosity and belief in science in an Iraqi sample and to determine whether selected sociodemographic characteristics and Big Five personality attributes influenced this link. It was guided by cultural cognition theory and the Big Five personality model. Religiosity served as the predictor, belief in science as the outcome, whereas sociodemographic characteristics and personality attributes were examined as potential moderators. The study sample consisted of 232 Iraqi adults, all aged 18 years or older, who participated by completing anonymous online surveys. Three standardized instruments were used: the Duke University Religion Index to measure religiosity, the Belief in Science Scale to assess belief in science, and the Big Five Inventory-10 to evaluate personality attributes. Statistical analyses consisted of Pearson correlation and multiple regression, which were performed to evaluate the proposed research questions. The findings revealed no statistically significant link between religiosity and belief in science, and none of the moderators significantly influenced this association. Future research may examine whether additional culture- and context-based factors influence beliefs in science. The study contributes to social change by informing culturally responsive approaches to understanding the relationship between religiosity and belief in science in Iraq.

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