Religious Context and Prosociality: An Experimental Study from Valparaiso, Chile

• Are people more prosocial in a religious context? We addressed this question through an experiment. We randomly placed participants in the control group in a neutral location (a lecture hall), and we placed participants in the experimental group in a religious location (a chapel). The participants then took part in a one-shot three-person public goods game, which measured participants' degree of cooperativeness. The results showed that participants in the experimental group cooperated significantly more than did participants in the control group. Furthermore, participants' beliefs about other participants' cooperativeness were more positive in the experimental group than they were in the control group. Improved expectations of others partially explained the enhanced cooperation in the religious context. We found no main or interaction effect of self-reported religiosity in the experiment.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Social och ekonomisk geografi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Social and Economic Geography (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

religious context

religious environment

prosociality

experimental study

ANONYMOUS ECONOMIC GAME

PUBLIC-GOODS

INDIRECT RECIPROCITY

HUMAN

COOPERATION

SOCIAL NORMS

PUNISHMENT

EVOLUTION

BEHAVIOR

PEOPLE

PSYCHOLOGY

religious context; religious environment; prosociality; experimental study

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