What is it about?
As societies secularize, do nonreligious people become mostly atheist or mostly agnostic? We analyzed EVS data from 18 Western European countries, covering (through three waves of data collection) a period of almost 20 years, from 1999 to 2017. It appeared that the more societies are/become secular, the proportion of atheists among nonbelievers increase at the detriment of the one of agnostics.
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Why is it important?
Is agnosticism a transient stance from religion to atheism--so, agnostics do not yet dare to "come out" as atheists? Or, on the contrary, is agnosticism a more serene and mature position, following an oppositional (to religion) atheism? The results of our study (data from 18 Western European countries) favor the former idea. Nevertheless, agnostics still constitute a unique, possibly stable, convectional group, distinct from atheists.
Perspectives
The data suggest that, at least in Western, more or less secularized, societies, agnosticism may be either a transient stance from religion to atheism, or a stable, unique position, distinct from atheism.
Professor Vassilis Saroglou
Universite catholique de Louvain
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This page is a summary of: Does agnosticism precede atheism? Investigating the question in the context of Western European countries, Social Compass, February 2025, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/00377686241311832.
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