What is it about?
Does belief in God aid or impede cooperation between people from different religious faiths? We conducted cross-cultural behavioral economics trust game experiments in the U.S., Israel, and Fiji to answer this question, finding that people are more trusting of others—even religious outgroup members—when those others are asked to think about God. Moreover, we find that people generally reciprocate more, within and across religious groups, when thinking about God. Results show that religious cognition can promote bidirectional inter-religious cooperation.
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Why is it important?
Religion, and belief in God more specifically, is often blamed as a major source of intergroup conflict. We provide cross-cultural evidence, from studies conducted with diverse religious groups, that directly challenges this account, instead showing that belief in God can help to promote cooperation even when religious group identities serve as cleavage lines.
Perspectives
I hope that this work adds important nuance to a rich debate on the role of religion in diverse societies. At a time when rising religious diversity is viewed by many as a threat to social cohesion, our research suggests it doesn't need to be this way.
Michael Pasek
University of Illinois at Chicago
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: In their God we trust: Religious cognition increases cooperation across religious divides., Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, July 2025, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/pspi0000499.
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