Religious participation, not belief, drives support for intergroup conflict

Evidence

Thus, unlike the Good Samaritan study and ones like it, religious involvement predicted greater contributions to the public good, and greater likelihood of cooperation. One key difference is that reminders of God are likely to be more chronically present in religious kibbutz, madrassahs, and Candomble communities, where religious prayer and attendance are a daily part of life. Another is that prosociality in these communities clearly benefited in-group members (despite being anonymous), whereas in the Good Samaritan study, the victim was a total stranger. It is also possible that regular, communal prayer involves public ritual participation, which, independent of devotion to a morally concerned deity, might also encourage more prosociality. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 183 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

The entire argument in this book can be summarized in eight interrelated principles. … 2. Religion is more in the situation than in the person. … 5. Religious actions speak louder than words. … 8. Religious groups cooperate in order to compete. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 19 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

In one early study, a team of economists led by John Orbell examined cooperative behavior in the Prisoner’s Dilemma Game toward strangers in two American cities with vastly different levels of religious diversity. They found that individuals in a religiously homogenous Mormon society (Logan, Utah), where one could be confident that the stranger shared one’s religious beliefs, were far more willing to engage in cooperative behavior toward each other than those in a religiously heterogenous society (Eugene, Oregon). Furthermore, while greater levels of religious attendance was associated with more cooperative behavior in the homogenous Logan sample, no such correlation was observed in Eugene. This lends some support to the idea that religious markers elicit prosociality, and shows the bounded nature of religious trust. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 215 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Religion factors into most wars but rarely causes them — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 512; Religion bundles separable traits whose conflict roles must be disaggregated; Religion drives intergroup conflict through three mutable pathways, not belief alone (+7 more)

Related

• Religion drives intergroup conflict through three mutable pathways, not belief alone (similarity 0.95)
• Prosocial religious groups outcompeted rivals through internal cooperation. (similarity 0.92)
• Chronic, communal, in-group religious practice drives the prosociality effect (similarity 0.88)
• Religious behavior depends on situational context, observable action, and intergroup competition (similarity 0.87)
• Religion is historically the primary motivator of prosociality among strangers. (similarity 0.87)
• Costly religious requirements directly explain group longevity in communes (similarity 0.86)
• Religious homogeneity increases cooperative behavior among strangers (similarity 0.86)
• Daily communal prayer predicts greater cooperation in public goods games (similarity 0.86)
• Witnessing an intense ritual boosts prosociality as much as participating in it (similarity 0.84)
• Religious cues elicit prosociality only toward perceived co-religionists (similarity 0.84)
• Religiosity predicts helping only when one can be seen doing it (similarity 0.83)
• Situation beats stated religiosity in predicting selfishness (similarity 0.83)
• Audible religious calls trigger generosity in non-Western settings (similarity 0.82)
• Religious community membership measurably improves well-being, health, cooperation, and trust. (similarity 0.82)
• Self-reported religiosity predicts prosociality only outside secular Western societies (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Chronic, communal, in-group religious practice drives the prosociality effect #corroborates (0.88) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 183
• Religious behavior depends on situational context, observable action, and intergroup competition #corroborates (0.85) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 19
• Religious homogeneity increases cooperative behavior among strangers #expands (0.75) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 215
• Prosocial religious cohesion inherently requires excluding nonbelievers from trust #expands (0.72)