S01 E 16 - Appropriating the “Soul”: Evolving Understandings in Canada and the United States

Appropriating the “Soul”: Evolving Understandings in Canada and the United StatesGaudette, Cragun, and Beaman’s 2025 article, "Appropriating the 'Soul': Evolving Understandings in Canada and the United States," investigates the significant "belief gap" in North America, where belief in a soul (75–84%) far outpaces belief in an afterlife (48–57%). Utilizing survey data from over 2,000 participants, the authors reveal that this discrepancy is especially pronounced among the religiously unaffiliated, 67% of whom report believing in a soul despite many rejecting other supernatural concepts like miracles or reincarnation. The study argues that nonreligious individuals are "appropriating" and redefining the term "soul" as a naturalistic "satisficing" term to describe human uniqueness, personality, or consciousness, rather than an immortal essence that survives physical death. Ultimately, the researchers suggest the soul has become a liminal concept—a form of "fuzzy fidelity" or "religious residue"—that allows the nonreligious to retain familiar religious language to express secular worldviews regarding the depth and substance of human identity.Full Citation: Gaudette, D., Cragun, R. T., & Beaman, L. G. (2026). Appropriating the “Soul”: Evolving Understandings in Canada and the United States. Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie, 63(2), e70023.