Costly signals predict universal religious behaviors while CREDs only predict some

Evidence

A second difference between CREDs and costly signals is that costly signals are thought to be the product of genetic evolution, which suggests that costly behaviors should be a universal feature of religions. The CRED model, on the other hand, is a cultural transmission model and does not require, or predict, such universality. If many, or even some, religious behaviors are extravagant displays, that pattern would be consistent with a cultural evolutionary framework. Genetic accounts, on the other hand, although certainly not incompatible with cultural variability, are more consistent with the idea that these behaviors are universally shared by religions. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 342

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

Related

• Costly signaling predicts universal religious displays while CRED allows cultural variability (similarity 0.92)
• Credible displays need not be costly to persuade observers (similarity 0.82)
• Costly signaling cannot explain why nonbelievers find religious displays costly (similarity 0.81)
• Costly religious signals induce cooperation without spreading belief (similarity 0.81)
• Costly religious displays evolved as honest signals of group commitment. (similarity 0.80)
• Costly public displays reliably signal otherwise unfakeable genuine belief (similarity 0.79)
• Religious extravagance functions as naturally selected honest signaling of group commitment (similarity 0.79)
• Credible religious displays need not be costly to signal conviction (similarity 0.78)
• Costly behaviors transmit beliefs because they prove honest commitment (similarity 0.78)
• Costly religious displays signal hard-to-fake commitment to group beliefs, like romantic love signals fidelity. (similarity 0.78)