The cognitive and cultural foundations of moral behavior
Evolution and Human Behavior • Vol/Iss. 39 • Elsevier • • Published In • Pages: 490-501 •
By Pisor, Anne C., Apicella, Coren, Atkinson, Quentin D., Cohen, Emma, Henrich, Joseph, McElreath, Richard L., McNamara, Rita A., Norenzayan, Ara, Willard, Aiyan K., Xygalatas, Dimitris
Hypothesis
Moral models and religious beliefs will affect individuals acting selflessly for themselves and not favoring their community over an external community in the economic game.
Note
This is tested using an economic distribution game where participants are given the unsupervised freedom to cheat the system and allocate more funds to themselves or their community, despite probability ensuring that there would be an equal distribution of the resources. Moral models had a small effect; religious beliefs had more effect.
| Test Name | Support | Significance | Coefficient | Tail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Odds ratios and credibility intervals | Partial Support | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN |
| Variable Name | Variable Type | OCM Term(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Religious Beliefs | Independent | Religious Beliefs |
| Morality Models | Dependent | Ethics, Exchange And Transfers, Gift Giving, Property Offenses, Social Relationships And Groups |