Heaven can wait. How religion modulates temporal discounting.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Religious Studies

Background:

• Religious systems are known to influence attentional and action control processes.
• Previous research has not extensively explored religion's impact on higher-order decision-making and delayed gratification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether religious beliefs modulate intertemporal choices and delay of gratification.
• To compare temporal discounting rates among Dutch Calvinists, Italian Catholics, and atheists from both cultures.

Main Methods:

• An intertemporal choice task was employed, offering participants a choice between smaller immediate and larger delayed monetary rewards.
• Discount rates were analyzed to quantify delay tolerance.
• Response times were also recorded to assess decision speed.

Main Results:

• Italian Catholics exhibited significantly lower delay tolerance (higher discount rates) compared to Dutch Calvinists, aligning with predictions.
• Atheist groups showed intermediate discount rates, falling between Catholics and Calvinists.
• A magnitude effect was observed, with faster responses for larger rewards across all groups, indicating temporal discounting is influenced by reward size.

Conclusions:

• Religious upbringing, rather than general cultural factors, specifically modulates temporal discounting and delay of gratification.
• The findings highlight the distinct psychological mechanisms associated with different religious doctrines, such as predestination and sin-confession cycles.