Belief Systems and Executive Functioning

Perceiving our world is an active process. We actively explore and investigate the

environment rather than passively registering the objects and events we encounter. Our

perception and attention reflect our moods, expectations, and beliefs. Recent evidence supporting

this approach comes from studies that focus on the impact of individual differences on human

perception and attention. Characteristics about the world we live in, such as culture or religion,

may drive these differences in perception and attention. One of the ways these differences have

been looked at is by examining executive functioning. Inhibitory control, the ignoring of

irrelevant information, is an important component of executive functioning. The Simon, Flanker,

and Stroop tasks are all common measures of inhibitory control. They all require to some degree

the inhibition of irrelevant information when selecting an appropriate response to stimuli.

Previous research has indicated differences in cognitive functioning for those of different

political beliefs. Differences are seen in perception of multi-level stimuli in people of different

cultures and religions and for people with different political leanings. Previous research has

found similar differences in performance on a measure of executive functioning for people of

different religions. The expected effects for the Simon and Flanker task were found in this

sample; however, differences in the size of the Simon and Flanker effect were not found in this

sample for those of different religious beliefs or political beliefs.