Origin and Evolution of Religious Prosociality

We examine empirical evidence for religious prosociality, the hypothesis that religions facilitate costly behaviors that benefit other people. Although sociological surveys reveal an association between self-reports of religiosity and prosociality, experiments measuring religiosity and actual prosoc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2008-10, Vol.322 (5898), p.58-62
Main Authors: Norenzayan, Ara, Shariff, Azim F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Altruism
Beneficence
Christianity
Communes
Contemporary period
Cooperative Behavior
Cross cultural studies
Cross-Cultural Comparison
Cultural Evolution
Cultural groups
Culture
Deities
Empirical evidence
Evolutionary biology
Experimental psychology
Games, Experimental
General subjects
Group Processes
Helping Behavior
History and sciences of religions
Humans
Motivation
Prosocial behavior
Religion
Religion & psychology
Religiosity
Religious behavior
Review
Secularism
Social Behavior
Social Responsibility
Social sciences
Sociological studies
Transponders
Trust
We they distinction
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Summary:We examine empirical evidence for religious prosociality, the hypothesis that religions facilitate costly behaviors that benefit other people. Although sociological surveys reveal an association between self-reports of religiosity and prosociality, experiments measuring religiosity and actual prosocial behavior suggest that this association emerges primarily in contexts where reputational concerns are heightened. Experimentally induced religious thoughts reduce rates of cheating and increase altruistic behavior among anonymous strangers. Experiments demonstrate an association between apparent profession of religious devotion and greater trust. Cross-cultural evidence suggests an association between the cultural presence of morally concerned deities and large group size in humans. We synthesize converging evidence from various fields for religious prosociality, address its specific boundary conditions, and point to unresolved questions and novel predictions.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1158757