Thinking styles predict religious belief among subgroupings of university students

This study explores how thinking styles relate to religious beliefs among subgroupings (by gender, university class level, and academic discipline) of university students in mainland China. The Thinking Styles Inventory-Revised II (TSI-R2) and the Religious Belief Scale (RBS) were administered to 522 students. Results showed that, those with Type I styles (i.e. more creativity-generating, less structured, and cognitively more complex) tended to be less religious, while those with Type II styles (i.e. more norm-favouring, more structured, and cognitively more simplistic) scored higher on the RBS. The limitations, contributions, and implications of this research are discussed.