Moralistic and local god beliefs and the extent of prosocial preferences on Tanna Island, Vanuatu

The co-existence of Christian and indigenous “Kastom” belief systems on Tanna Island, Vanuatu provides a rare opportunity to explore the relationship between cooperation and religion. Here, we use data on religious beliefs and practices, religious priming, and four versions of a dictator game at two...

Description complète

Enregistré dans:  
Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs: Vardy, Thomas (Auteur) ; Atkinson, Quentin D. (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
Vérifier la disponibilité: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
En cours de chargement...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Publié: Routledge 2022
Dans: Religion, brain & behavior
Année: 2022, Volume: 12, Numéro: 1/2, Pages: 79-96
Sujets non-standardisés:B Deity
B Vanuatu
B Cooperation
B prosocial
B Religion
B God
B supernatural punishment
Accès en ligne: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Résumé:The co-existence of Christian and indigenous “Kastom” belief systems on Tanna Island, Vanuatu provides a rare opportunity to explore the relationship between cooperation and religion. Here, we use data on religious beliefs and practices, religious priming, and four versions of a dictator game at two sites—one predominantly Christian and one predominantly Kastom—to test a suite of hypotheses linking prosocial behavior to beliefs about and commitment to both a powerful moralistic god and a less morally concerned local supernatural force. We found belief that the moralistic god was more punitive did not predict increased giving towards co-religionists but did predict giving more to a religious outgroup member over a co-religionist. Belief that the moralistic god was more rewarding predicted less giving towards a distant coreligionist or outgroup member. Religious commitment predicted giving to a distant coreligionist over someone from one's own village. We did not find any effect of beliefs about and commitment to less morally-concerned local supernatural forces on giving. We also did not find the predicted effects of religious priming on giving. These findings suggest a more complex relationship between religious beliefs and prosocial behavior than current theory can accommodate.
ISSN:2153-5981
Contient:Enthalten in: Religion, brain & behavior
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/2153599X.2021.2006290