Publication details
Náboženství a prosocialita v evoluční perspektivě: Základní mechanismy lidského sociálního chování
| Title in English | Religion and prosociality in an evolutionary persepctive: Basic mechanisms of human social behavior |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Pantheon : religionistický časopis |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Philosophy and religion |
| Keywords | cognitive mechanisms; costly signaling; evolution; experimental research; kin selection; prosociality; reciprocity; religion; reputation |
| Description | The idea that religion has a positive impact on prosociality and group cooperation has a long standing tradition in the social sciences (Durkheim, Freud, James). Nevertheless, during past decades, this claim faced severe criticism for a lack of empirical evidence. The majority of existing evidence was based on self-reports, whereas controlled experiments showed discrepant results. Moreover, in contrast to the traditional view, experimental studies found that religious priming had the same effects on people irrespective of their religious beliefs. This study seeks to offer a possible solution for this discrepancy by using a framework of evolutionary biology. In this framework, problems of religious prosociality can be seen as resulting from interplay between different cognitive mechanisms, including in-group/out-group perception, group identification, and reputational concerns. To document how these mechanisms facilitate religious prosociality, this paper describes a variety of different experimental studies. As a result, religious prosociality is seen as a product of various cognitive mechanisms responsible for human social behavior. |
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