When God is Watching, People Are More Generous.

Psychology Today by Gad Saad | Nov. 9, 2009 (Opinion)

(Blog Post) One argument in support of religiosity is that it makes people more moral. I am not particularly moved by this premise, as I find it a lot more impressive to be ethical, moral, kind, honest, and decent for reasons other than the fact that a "celestial dictator" (to borrow Christopher Hitchens' brilliant term) is watching over me. Moral and immoral acts are committed both by atheists and believers so neither group holds a monopoly over either form of behaviors. Full Story »

Posted by Derek Hawkins

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Subjects: Religion, Sci/Tech, Health, Business, Living
Topics: Science and Religion, Psychology, Money
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Posted by: Posted by Derek Hawkins - Nov 9, 2009 - 6:48 AM PST
Reviewed by: Derek Hawkins (review), Fabrice Florin (review), Michael Todd (review)
Content Type: Blog Post
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Edited by: Derek Hawkins - Nov 9, 2009 - 6:49 AM PST
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3.3
 by Fabrice Florin - Nov. 9, 2009

Interesting blog post about a study from the University of British Columbia, which suggests that individuals who think that God is watching them are more likely to behave generously with others. The author offers a bit of context to explain how the study was conducted, but doesn't point to other similar studies or other perspectives on this issue.

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3.5
 by Derek Hawkins - Nov. 9, 2009

in the first study, they either primed participants with God concepts or did not prime them at all. Subsequently, they had them play an anonymous dictator game (i.e., they ... More »

Derek posted this story.
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4.2
 by Michael Todd - Nov. 9, 2009

I love several things about this, perhaps most saliently that the author identifies his own biases in a readable manner before laying out his reporting. I also like that he provides a quick and cogent explanation of a key concept without getting bogged down.

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