Premium
Are Religious People More Prosocial? A Quasi‐Experimental Study with Madrasah Pupils in a Rural Community in India
Author(s) -
Ahmed Ali M.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal for the scientific study of religion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.941
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1468-5906
pISSN - 0021-8294
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-5906.2009.01452.x
Subject(s) - prosocial behavior , religiosity , dictator game , dictator , social psychology , public goods game , psychology , public good , sociology , political science , economics , law , politics , microeconomics
Using quasi‐experimental data, this article examines the relationship between religiosity and prosocial behavior. In contrast to previous studies that identify religious people by how often they attend religious services or by their self‐reported religiosity, this study compares the behavior of highly devout students who are preparing to enter the clergy to the behavior of other students in a public goods game and in the dictator game. The results show that religious students were significantly more cooperative in the public goods game and significantly more generous in the dictator game than other students.