The Psychology Of The Religious Bandwagon

Religion binds certain types together in the name of truth, but it also divides us. Why? The initial wisdom was expressed by a person who was not in the religion – that came later. Why? Do people become realised within the religion, or when they go away in isolation?

Once we realise the absolute truth,
we see this truth.
We see it everywhere.

Are religions bandwagons places where we become zealots and shunners, choosing a side because others are wrong?

The Bandwagon Effect; taken from Wikipedia:

“The bandwagon effect is the tendency for people to adopt certain behaviours, styles, or attitudes simply because others are doing so. More specifically, it is a cognitive bias by which public opinion or behaviours can alter due to particular actions and beliefs rallying amongst the public.

“It is a psychological phenomenon whereby the rate of uptake of beliefs, ideas, fads and trends increases with respect to the proportion of others who have already done so. As more people come to believe in something, others also “hop on the bandwagon” regardless of the underlying evidence.

“Individuals are highly influenced by the pressure and norms exerted by groups. As an idea or belief increases in popularity, people are more likely to adopt it; when seemingly everyone is doing something, there is an incredible pressure to conform. Individuals’ impressions of public opinion or preference can originate from several sources.

“Some individual reasons behind the bandwagon effect include:

“Efficiency — Bandwagoning serves as a mental shortcut, or heuristic, allowing for decisions to be made quickly. It takes time for an individual to evaluate a behaviour or thought and decide upon it.

“Normative social influence (belonging) — People have the tendency to conform with others out of a desire to fit in with the crowd and gain approval from others. As conformity ensures some level of social inclusion and acceptance, many people go along with the behaviours and/or ideas of their group in order to avoid being the odd one out. The ‘spiral of silence’ exemplifies this factor.

“Informational social influence — People tend to conform with others out of a desire to be right, under the assumption that others may know something or may understand the situation better. In other words, people will support popular beliefs because they are seen as correct by the larger social group (the ‘majority’). Moreover, when it seems as though the majority is doing a certain thing, not doing that thing becomes increasingly difficult. When individuals make rational choices based on the information they receive from others, economists have proposed that information cascades can quickly form in which people decide to ignore their personal information signals and follow the behaviour of others.

“Fear of missing out — People who are anxious about ‘missing out’ on things that others are doing may be susceptible to the bandwagon effect.

“Being on the ‘winning side‘ — The desire to support a “winner” (or to avoid supporting a “loser”) can be what makes some susceptible to the bandwagon effect, such as in the case of voting for a candidate because they’re in the lead.”