Moralistic gods, supernatural punishment and the expansion of human sociality

Benjamin Grant Purzycki (), Coren Apicella, Quentin D. Atkinson, Emma Cohen, Rita Anne McNamara, Aiyana K. Willard, Dimitris Xygalatas, Ara Norenzayan and Joseph Henrich ()
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Benjamin Grant Purzycki: Centre for Human Evolution, Cognition, and Culture, University of British Columbia
Coren Apicella: University of Pennsylvania, Solomon Laboratories
Quentin D. Atkinson: University of Auckland, Human Sciences Building
Emma Cohen: Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Oxford
Rita Anne McNamara: University of British Columbia
Aiyana K. Willard: Culture, and Development Laboratory, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station #A8000
Dimitris Xygalatas: University of Connecticut
Ara Norenzayan: University of British Columbia
Joseph Henrich: University of British Columbia

Nature, 2016, vol. 530, issue 7590, 327-330

Abstract: Using economic games, the authors examine the role of religion in the persistence of human cooperation; individuals who claim that their gods are moralizing, punitive and knowledgeable about human affairs are more likely to play fairly towards geographically distant co-religionists.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/nature16980

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