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Religion, parochialism and intuitive cooperation
Ozan Isler1,2, Onurcan Yilmaz3, A John Maule4
1School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. ozan.isler@qut.edu.au.
Nature Human Behaviour
|January 5, 2021
Summary
Religious cooperation is not always intuitive, as people tend to favor their own religious group over atheists. Deliberation, however, promotes cooperation regardless of religious affiliation.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Behavioral Economics
- Religious Studies
Background:
- Religions can foster cooperation but also division.
- The social heuristics hypothesis (SHH) posits intuitive cooperation.
- The self-control account (SCA) suggests cooperation requires deliberation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether religious cooperation is intuitively parochial against atheists.
- To test the social heuristics hypothesis (SHH) prediction of intuitive cooperation.
- To explore the self-control account (SCA) regarding deliberation and cooperation.
Main Methods:
- A one-shot prisoner's dilemma game with 1,280 Christian participants.
- Participants were paired with either a coreligionist or an atheist.
- Time limits were manipulated to influence intuitive versus deliberated decisions.
Main Results:
- Evidence for religious parochialism was found.
- No support for the SHH's prediction of intuitive cooperation.
- Exploratory findings suggest deliberation promotes cooperation independent of religious identity.
Conclusions:
- Religious cooperation is not inherently intuitive and can be parochial.
- Deliberation appears to be a key factor in promoting cooperation across religious divides.
- Further research is needed to confirm the role of decision conflict and reciprocity in religious parochialism.
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