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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.