Study reveals what Americans think God's face looks like

Faith is something that a lot of people hold close to their hearts, but when you may never see the face of your creator until entering the afterlife, how can you know what they look like?

Well, we might be a step closer to figuring out the general consensus of what the American people believe to be the face of God.

When you think of a deity, the obvious thing that comes to mind is a bright white light encompassing an ethereal body.

But when you consider taking a closer peek, what would their defining features be if we are all made in their image?

This is what psychologists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have tried to figure out.

Pixabay

By using a new technique, the team of researchers showed a sample group of 522 Christians varying face pairs to see who they thought looked the most like how they imagined God to resemble, and the results are interesting.

After refining the selection, they then merged the faces together to create a final face, which represents, on average, what Americans imagined God to look like.

What may be a little shocking is that from the faces chosen, it was understood that they were more prone to believing that God looked a lot younger and more feminine than what he has been traditionally depicted in scriptures and on TV.

But the researchers also found that political beliefs swayed how different people viewed God, such as conservatives seeing God as all-powerful and Caucasian, whereas liberals saw God as feminine and nurturing.

In the final two photos created, one shows a blend of all of the faces selected for having God-like qualities, while another showed a merger of those who had the least God-like qualities.

They both look pretty odd, but I suppose you can’t be precise when estimating what a deity looks like.

Pixabay

But the running theme of the study found that people view God as looking more like themselves.

The authors of the study, which was published in PLOS One wrote: "Independent ratings suggest that, as predicted, perceptions of God’s face are shaped by egocentrism."

"Older participants saw an older God, more attractive participants saw a more attractive God, and African Americans saw a marginally more African American God."

As many Christians believe that God created man in his own image, it’s easy to understand that when faced with images of people, you’d go for someone with similar features to yourself.

The face on the left is what Americans think God looks like, while the one on the right is their interpretation of the 'Anti God'. Credit:Jackson et al / Plos One.

However, even though the participants saw God in their own image too, regardless of gender, they all chose a man.

The senior author of the study, Professor Kurt Gray, explained: "People's tendency to believe in a God that looks like them is consistent with an egocentric bias."

"People often project their beliefs and traits onto others, and our study shows that God's appearance is no different – people believe in a God who not only thinks like them, but also looks like them."

The study also canvassed public opinion on the 'Anti God' and what people thought that would look like.

As the picture above shows, similar to their idea of God, a white man is once again depicted, only with a more dour expression on his face and thinning hair.

It's fair to say, it makes for pretty uncomfortable viewing.