"Render Unto Caesar What Is Caesar's": Religiosity and Taxpayers' Inclinations to Cheat

• Published in: Sociological quarterly 1991-07, Vol.32 (2), p.251-266
• Main Authors: Grasmick, Haroid G., Bursik, Robert J., Cochran, John K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Behavior; Cheating; Church attendance; Compliance; Conservatism; Deception; Emotions; Income taxes; Law; Oklahoma; Religion; Religiosity; Religious identity; Religious laws; Shame; Social research; Sociology; Tax evasion; Taxation; Taxation (cheating); Taxpayers; Taxpaying
• ISSN: 0038-0253; 1533-8525
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1533-8525.1991.tb00356.x

Previous research on the relationship between religiosity and involvement in illegal behavior overlooks Hirschi and Stark's original concern with religion as a sanctioning system. While Hirschi and Stark proposed that religion affects compliance with the law by promising heaven and threatening damnation, this study suggests that its sanctions are self-imposed shame and socially-imposed embarrassment. Shame and embarrassment are compatible with a rational choice perspective on illegal behavior-they lower the expected utility of crime and, thus, its likelihood. These two threats stem from two conceptually distinct dimensions of religiosity. People strongly self-identified as religious are more likely to feel ashamed if they violate the law; those involved in a social network based on religion are more likely to be embarrassed. An adult sample's responses to a question concerning the likelihood of cheating on income taxes in the future tests these hypotheses. The threat of shame emanating from religious identity salience is a stronger deterrent than that of embarrassment.