Seeing God when you are tired : the moderating role of ego-depletion in fate beliefs and anthropomorphism of God

This study seeks to explore the relationship between fate beliefs and anthropomorphism of God, with ego-depletion amplifying the relationship. Crucial to the understanding of anthropomorphism are the three core processes, viz., activation, correction, and application, which have been scarcely explored. All the participants (N = 40; 23 women, 17 men) were undergraduates from Nanyang Technological University, all of whom participated for a course credit. All participants were Ethnic Chinese, due to requirement restriction, and aged 18 to 24 (M = 20.78; SD = 1.33). This study hypothesized that participants who were primed with fate would show greater extent of anthropomorphism of God than those primed with non-fate (Hypothesis 1). Additionally, ego-depletion would amplify this effect, such that those who were primed with fate and highly ego-depleted would be more inclined to anthropomorphize God to a greater degree (Hypothesis 2). These participants went through a series of tasks sequentially, by first completing a high or low ego-depletion manipulation, followed by priming of fate or non-fate beliefs using different reports. Finally, they were presented with various degrees of pixelated pictures for identification. The extent of anthropomorphism of God was indicated by participants’ rate of detection of religious-related picture, which is the degree by which they could accurately identify the picture. Results indicated that there was no support for both the hypotheses. However, there are plausible reasons for the null findings, as well as recommendations for future researchers to take into consideration.Bachelor of Art