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Moralistic and local god beliefs and the extent of prosocial preferences on Tanna Island, Vanuatu

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Atkinson,  Quentin D.       
Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Max Planck Society;

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Citation

Vardy, T., & Atkinson, Q. D. (2022). Moralistic and local god beliefs and the extent of prosocial preferences on Tanna Island, Vanuatu. Religion, Brain Behavior, 12(1-2), 79-96. doi:10.1080/2153599X.2021.2006290.


Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000A-561F-4
Abstract
The co-existence of Christian and indigenous “Kastom” belief systems on Tanna Island, Vanuatu provides a rare opportunity to explore the relationship between cooperation and religion. Here, we use data on religious beliefs and practices, religious priming, and four versions of a dictator game at two sites—one predominantly Christian and one predominantly Kastom—to test a suite of hypotheses linking prosocial behavior to beliefs about and commitment to both a powerful moralistic god and a less morally concerned local supernatural force. We found belief that the moralistic god was more punitive did not predict increased giving towards co-religionists but did predict giving more to a religious outgroup member over a co-religionist. Belief that the moralistic god was more rewarding predicted less giving towards a distant coreligionist or outgroup member. Religious commitment predicted giving to a distant coreligionist over someone from one's own village. We did not find any effect of beliefs about and commitment to less morally-concerned local supernatural forces on giving. We also did not find the predicted effects of religious priming on giving. These findings suggest a more complex relationship between religious beliefs and prosocial behavior than current theory can accommodate.