Do beliefs in omniscient and punitive moralizing gods contribute promote ingroup cooperation? And what about their effect on intergroup cooperation with people who belong to other religion?
We are providing some answers to these questions in our new paper called “Moralizing gods, impartiality and religious parochialism across 15 societies". Together, in two experiments with 2228 participants from 15 populations, the ratings of gods as monitoring and punishing predicted resource-sharing with co-religionists. Sharing with outgroups varied between sites: in the absence of intergroup hostility, the results suggest that moralizing gods may promote cooperation with outgroups.
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.
