TruthBook Religious News Blog

Religion's link to altruism grows from a believer's desire to look good in God's eyes, a new study finds
By J. Peder Zane - Staff Writer
Published: Thu, Dec. 25, 2008

After analyzing three decades of research, Canadian scholars have concluded that religion can make people more honest while inspiring them to help people they don't know, even when that exacts a personal cost.

While most people are willing to put themselves out for their families, their friends and even their country, religion makes them more likely to make sacrifices for strangers, to engage in what the authors call "prosocial" behaviors.

"Experimentally induced religious thoughts reduce rates of cheating and increase altruistic behavior among anonymous strangers," University of British Columbia social psychologists Ara Norenzayan and Azim F. Shariff report in the journal Science. "Experiments demonstrate an association between apparent profession of religion and greater trust."

It is not empathy or compassion that makes the religious more likely to do unto others, the authors conclude, but a heightened concern about their own reputation. It is this "egoistic" desire to look good in the eyes of others or to avoid feelings of guilt that drives their admirable conduct.

To illustrate this, they cite a classic good Samaritan study. In this experiment, a lone subject lay on the ground in obvious need of attention. As prescreened people passed by on their way to participate in another study, researchers noted who stopped to lend a hand.

"Recorded offers of help," the authors write, "showed no relation with religiosity in this anonymous context."

On the other hand, in experiments where people's actions were not anonymous, where they were seen and judged by others, the religious were more likely to do the right thing. This helps explain studies that have found that believers tend to be more charitable than atheists -- more likely, for example, to donate blood or give money to the homeless.

The definition of ethicseth

The key dynamic in play here is the age-old definition of ethics: It's not what you do when everybody is watching but how you act when nobody is.

The religious, the authors contend, are more likely to be good in certain situations because they believe they are being watched by an omnipresent eye in the sky.

"The cognitive awareness of gods is likely to heighten prosocial reputation concerns among believers," they write. Even when no people are around, they want to look good in the eyes of God.

The Science paper also reports that the mention of religious ideas encourages truthfulness. When students were asked to unscramble faith-based words before taking a test, they were less likely to cheat. They were also more generous when religious ideas were invoked before experiments involving money.

Labels: altruism, Ara Norenzayan, Azim Shariff, ethics, God, J. Peder Zane, prosocial behavior, religion