As traditional religious affiliations decline in the United States, supernatural beliefs are not necessarily vanishing but rather transforming into individualized forms of magic. A recent survey reveals that people who favor secular reasoning and science over religious authority often hold magical or superstitious beliefs, provided they maintain some residual connection to a religious tradition. These findings, published in the journal Social Forces, suggest that the modern shift toward rationality does not eliminate enchantment but redirects it away from organized institutions.
Sociologists track the process of secularization across post-industrial countries. This concept generally refers to the declining social authority of religious institutions, rather than the complete disappearance of individual faith. As churches and religious leaders lose their ability to monopolize moral meaning and regulate behavior, alternative spiritual practices often emerge to fill the void.
Historically, magic and religion have operated side by side, yet they function quite differently in practice. Religion typically requires belief in a god or gods, offers overarching explanations for existence, and binds adherents together in a shared moral community. Magic, by contrast, relies on transactional efforts to manipulate supernatural forces for worldly rewards. It does not require a formal theology or a centralized institution.
In many ways, magic shares a structural similarity with early scientific thought. Both frameworks assume the universe operates via mechanical forces that humans can uncover and manipulate for their own ends. Magic promises tangible, worldly results without demanding total devotion to a religious doctrine. This shared mechanical outlook makes magic an appealing alternative for individuals who value scientific discovery but still desire a sense of mystery.
During the scientific revolution, early natural philosophers often dabbled in alchemy and astrology. They viewed the universe as a hidden puzzle that could be decoded through rigorous observation and secret knowledge. While modern science eventually discarded supernatural explanations in favor of strict empirical verification, the psychological appeal of manipulating unseen forces remains. A magical mindset can provide a sense of existential agency, enhancing personal optimism in a chaotic world.
Paul Froese, a sociologist at Baylor University, led the new study alongside Isaiah King of Carson-Newman University and Ruiqian Li of American University. The researchers wanted to understand the supernatural beliefs of people who prioritize science and individuality over organized religion. They proposed that a scientific worldview might actually foster an environment where ancient superstitions and magical thinking can flourish outside of religious boundaries.
The researchers analyzed data from the 2025 Baylor Religion Survey, a nationally representative poll of 1,812 American adults. The survey asked respondents a wide range of questions regarding their spiritual practices, religious attendance, and philosophical views. Using these responses, the team constructed a scale to measure a concept they called secular rationalism.
This secular rationalism scale identified individuals who rely on science as the sole way to understand the world. It also captured those who believe moral decisions should be based on human experience rather than religious teachings. High scorers on this scale preferred to interpret spiritual matters on their own and expressed a general disinterest in official religious doctrines.
To categorize supernatural beliefs, the researchers created three distinct scales based on clusters of survey responses. The first scale measured belief in traditional miracles, such as the idea that miracles happen in modern times and are created by God. The second scale measured belief in magic, which included concepts like ghosts, curses, predicting the future, talking to the dead, and the idea that inanimate objects have spirits.
The third scale captured everyday superstitions. This included performing minor rituals to avoid bad outcomes, avoiding jinxes, or feeling uncomfortable buying a house where a murder occurred. The researchers then ran statistical models to see how a person’s level of secular rationalism predicted their scores on the miracle, magic, and superstition scales.
The initial analysis revealed a stark divide between traditional religious beliefs and individualized supernaturalism. As expected, respondents who scored high in secular rationalism were much less likely to believe in traditional miracles. Valuing science and human reason predicted a strong rejection of divine, institutionalized interventions.
The opposite was true for alternative forms of enchantment. Higher levels of secular rationalism predicted stronger belief in both magic and superstition. Rather than erasing all supernatural beliefs, a rationalist worldview was associated with a shift toward individualized, mechanistic forms of the supernatural.
The researchers also accounted for demographic factors like age, gender, education, and income. Income showed a slight negative association with belief in magic, meaning wealthier individuals were slightly less likely to hold these views. Education levels lacked a statistically significant relationship with any of the three supernatural belief categories.
To uncover more nuance, the research team tested how religious participation interacted with secular rationalism. They divided respondents based on their belief in God, their religious affiliation, and their church attendance. This allowed the researchers to see if the link between rationalism and magic applied equally to strict atheists and those who kept one foot in the church.
The results showed that strict nonbelievers and individuals who never attended religious services did not experience a boost in magical thinking from their rationalist views. For fully secular individuals, the link between secular rationalism and magical or superstitious belief largely disappeared, consistent with traditional secularization narratives. In other words, among these individuals, a rationalist outlook no longer translated into greater belief in magic or superstition.
Magic flourished most robustly among people who combined secular rationalism with residual religious habits. The positive association between rationalism and magical belief was strongest for individuals who still believed in God, claimed a religious affiliation, or attended church services. These individuals seem to inhabit a hybrid cultural space where secular reasoning and spiritual openness coexist.
This phenomenon aligns with a concept sociologists call bounded affinity. This theory suggests that moderate levels of religious commitment create a prime environment for alternative beliefs. A person must be open enough to the supernatural to accept unseen forces, but detached enough from strict religious dogma to explore unorthodox ideas. Secular rationalism appears to provide that necessary detachment.
The researchers interpret this as evidence that traditional religious institutions actively police supernatural boundaries. When people remain attached to a faith but adopt secular rationalism, they begin to step outside those institutional doctrines. This creates a fertile mental environment for exploring unsanctioned supernatural ideas like ghosts, curses, and fortune-telling.
The study provides a detailed look at how modern belief systems evolve, but it relies on observational survey data. Because the data captures a single moment in time, the researchers cannot prove that adopting a rationalist worldview directly leads a person to adopt magical beliefs. The findings only show a mathematical association between these specific mindsets.
The broad definition of magic used in the study also bundles together a wide variety of spiritual concepts. Practices like ghost hunting, fortune-telling, psychics, and preternatural healings all fall under the same conceptual umbrella here. While this helps identify general trends, it might gloss over distinctions between a casual superstition and a deeply held belief in psychic phenomena.
Future studies could explore how these individualized magical beliefs spread in the modern era, particularly through social media. Online platforms host a massive market of wellness gurus and spiritual entrepreneurs who operate without traditional institutional constraints. This digital landscape might be the perfect catalyst for blending scientific language with ancient magical concepts.
The study, “The magic of secularization,” was authored by Paul Froese, Isaiah King, and Ruiqian Li.