While religious priming is said to increase prosocial and normative behavior, many critiques doubt the replicability and the broader validity of this research technique. An international team, together with Martin Lang and Radek Kundt, realized an experiment on an intercultural sample, which was aiming to replicate and extend a previous experimental design focused on the influence of instrumental religious music on dishonest behavior.
The experiment, which took place in the Czech Republic, Japan, and the USA, tested whether religious music decreases dishonest behavior in comparison to secular music, white noise, or no music at all playing during the “Dots game”. The study did not detect any effect of auditory cues on dishonest behavior, not even with an interaction between auditory cues and religious affiliation of the participants. However, interactions between the auditory cues and religiosity of participants, and between auditory cues and ritual participation were found. Specifically, religious music decreased dishonest behavior in participants who often attend rituals and whose religious affiliation matched the religious cue.
You can find the article here: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0237007
In a new study published in Human Nature, LEVYNA was part of a team lead by A.K. Willard, studying how witchcraft beliefs affect social norms and behaviors. Specifically, researchers investigated whether witchcraft is regarded to be motivated by envy and how this notion influences community interactions. The findings show that, while witchcraft accusations were common, they were mostly directed at persons suspected of acting out of envy.
In an ethnographic survey-based study published in the journal Religions, D. Xygalatas and P. Maňo looked at variation in motivations for ritual practice and how it relates to the socioeconomic status of respondents. The findings indicate that whereas people of lower socioeconomic standing address more immediate concerns related to material security and safety in their ritual practices, people at the other end of the socioeconomic spectrum tend to focus on the fulfillment of spiritual, social, or cultural needs.
