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Abstract
Differences in psychological type were examined among three samples taken from the online Personality and Belief in God Survey. All three samples consisted of individuals who grew up attending church as a child. The first sample was made up of 2326 individuals who continue to attend church as adults (1137 females and 1189 males), the second was made up of 10,515 individuals who no longer attend church and are now atheists or agnostics (2677 females and 7838 males), and the third was made up of 1977 individuals who no longer attend church yet still retain some sort of belief in God (1134 females and 843 males). Of the three groups, the atheist/agnostic church-leavers differed the most from current churchgoers in terms of psychological type. Compared to the female churchgoers, the types most significantly over-represented among the female atheist/agnostic church-leavers were ISTP (I = 3.79), INTP (I = 2.29), and ISTJ (introversion, sensing, thinking, and judging) (I = 1.91). Compared to the male churchgoers, the types most significantly over-represented among the male atheist/agnostic church-leavers were ISTP (I = 3.20), ESTP (I = 2.19), and INTP (I = 1.81). These findings support the hypothesis that psychological type plays a role in church-leaving, particularly among those who become atheists or agnostics.