They might also be prompted by periods of vulnerability in our life cycle, such as youth, pregnancy, or old age, or by genetic and developmental conditions, such as trait anxiety and emotional repression. Indeed, women are known to be more religious than men, and this may be caused by greater intersexual risk and a female tendency for risk aversion. In other words, we appear to be psychologically attracted to the rewards that religion offers, and this attraction should be heightened for particular individuals at particular times. During such times, we will give religious ideas our attention and employ biased, motivated reasoning to "prove" them true. Those who desire the reward most will display the greatest attentional and motivational biases. With these ideas in mind, we turn to the most common types of religious conversion.
