You, however, seem obviously high on Agreeableness, you might say an anomalous atheist.
I have noticed this. (My family, all atheists, are a lot less agreeable, and I think they get a lot less out of church services than I do.) I’ve also noticed that I’m conscientious in the extreme, and I like my general agreeability; it makes my head a more pleasant place to live. (Also, most of the time I don’t feel emotions strongly.)
Do you find it plausible that if your atheist friends took up religion, they would become less negative? Perhaps to the degree obtainable by associating with those with a more positive outlook, but I don’t think that’s the predominant cause of the corresponding attitudes.
My personal experience is that attitudes are VERY contagious. I’m very introverted, although I can play extroverted, and I often go around wrapped up in my own thoughts...but I’m STILL strongly affected by the attitude of those around me. I think that if anything, more extroverted people would be influenced more by this.
The problem at my work at the pool, for example, is that nearly EVERYONE has a negative attitude towards the job (i.e. not taking it seriously, coming in hungover on Sunday mornings and never doing maintenance), and a lot of people have negative attitudes towards their lives in general (maybe because it’s a predominantly university-student jobs, and students tend to be poor and face a lot of uncertainty.) Being conscientious, I try very hard, to the point that it’s a running joke with my coworkers. Another milieu, like a cushy government office job where the employees are comfortably settled into their lives and have spouses and kids and fulfilling hobbies they can afford to pursue, might not have the same bias.
Thank you, your conclusions seem very plausible.
I have noticed this. (My family, all atheists, are a lot less agreeable, and I think they get a lot less out of church services than I do.) I’ve also noticed that I’m conscientious in the extreme, and I like my general agreeability; it makes my head a more pleasant place to live. (Also, most of the time I don’t feel emotions strongly.)
My personal experience is that attitudes are VERY contagious. I’m very introverted, although I can play extroverted, and I often go around wrapped up in my own thoughts...but I’m STILL strongly affected by the attitude of those around me. I think that if anything, more extroverted people would be influenced more by this.
The problem at my work at the pool, for example, is that nearly EVERYONE has a negative attitude towards the job (i.e. not taking it seriously, coming in hungover on Sunday mornings and never doing maintenance), and a lot of people have negative attitudes towards their lives in general (maybe because it’s a predominantly university-student jobs, and students tend to be poor and face a lot of uncertainty.) Being conscientious, I try very hard, to the point that it’s a running joke with my coworkers. Another milieu, like a cushy government office job where the employees are comfortably settled into their lives and have spouses and kids and fulfilling hobbies they can afford to pursue, might not have the same bias.