Behav Brain Sci January 2016 PMID 26785995

The cultural evolution of prosocial religions.

Ara Norenzayan, Azim F Shariff, Will M Gervais, Aiyana K Willard, Rita A McNamara, Edward Slingerland, Joseph Henrich

Mentions

76
Peak: 9 in Mar 2019
across 7 sources since Mar 2019

Extended reach

239,767
potential audience

Total likes

255

Video views

1,896

Mentions per month

Mar 2019 – Aug 2025

Where it's discussed

  • X / Twitter37 posts
  • News18 articles
  • Blogs8 articles
  • Facebook6 posts
  • YouTube3 videos
  • Bluesky2 posts
  • Reddit2 posts

AI synopsis

What people are saying

Discussions underscore the importance of articles like Norenzayan’s work and the role of divine moralizing agents, with participants referencing detailed studies and engaging critically with the ideas. The tone and word choice reflect scholarly curiosity and approval, emphasizing how these insights deepen understanding of religious functions in large-scale cooperation.

AgreementModerate agreement

Most discussions support the idea that prosocial religions evolved to promote social cohesion and cooperation, aligning with the publication's thesis.

InterestHigh interest

Posts show high curiosity and engagement, referencing detailed studies and suggesting active reading of related literature.

EngagementHigh engagement

Participants cite specific research, mention ideas like big gods and ritual sacrifice, indicating deep analytical engagement.

ImpactModerate impact

The discussions highlight recognition of the publication's significance for understanding social and religious evolution, though mostly within academic circles.

Abstract in brief

  • The text presents a theory that prosocial religions originated and evolved as a way to promote cooperation and social cohesion among large groups of strangers, which helped in intergroup conflicts and success.
  • It explains how religious beliefs with moralizing supernatural agents, displays of faith, and other active psychological elements encouraged high fertility and cooperation, leading to the spread of prosocial religions as successful groups expanded or copied these ideas.
  • The framework integrates both adaptationist and byproduct perspectives, showing that although religious beliefs may have initially been byproducts of cognitive functions, cultural evolution favored those that enhanced social solidarity, supported by evidence from various disciplines and inspiring new research directions.

Top posts

Most liked on X and Bluesky
Joe Henrich
@JoHenrich · X

My current views on the evolution of religions are still best summarized in this paper: The Cultural Evolution of Prosocial Religions in BBS. https://t.co/TeSsSqH80v https://t.co/bvCeN9jorD

Mar 30, 2019 · 62 likes · 11 shares · 24,651 followers View post →
Alice Evans
@_alice_evans · X

Why do so many religions ritualise painful self-sacrifice? Painful displays are very *credible* evidence of faith. They signal strong commitment. This likely enhances religiosity, which in turn promotes large-scale social cooperation and solidarity https://t.co/nAVdZ0VwKO https://t.co/ALeoBoK4Ej

Feb 9, 2023 · 47 likes · 10 shares · 58,265 followers View post →
Michael Muthukrishna
@mmuthukrishna · X

Religion & selection, see this award winning paper: https://t.co/2O3eHYp17A by Norenzayan, @azimshariff @wgervais @aiyanakoka @GuessRita @slingerland20 @JoHenrich History on the competition, including conservative vs liberal (in US): https://t.co/EYibsqqmzO @boutela @birchlse https://t.co/lTpbGodcMy

Apr 6, 2021 · 9 likes · 2 shares · 6,267 followers View post →
Michael Muthukrishna
@mmuthukrishna · X

- cultural evolution of religion and role in large-scale cooperation (e.g. https://t.co/2O3eHYp17A, https://t.co/TTcKISVM5n, etc) @JoHenrich @slingerland20 @GuessRita @aiyanakoka @wgervais @azimshariff @corenapicella @DrQueue @xygalatas 3/

Jan 12, 2022 · 6 likes · 6,267 followers View post →
Michael Muthukrishna
@mmuthukrishna · X

@ClayCampaigne Probably should have said Western civilization. Couple of good papers on the topic more broadly: https://t.co/2O3eHYpyX8 https://t.co/QA7SGmrprh

Jun 29, 2025 · 5 likes · 1 share · 6,267 followers View post →
Dan McClellan
@maklelan · X

@DrZacharyHarris This is how prosociality works. You can check out Whitehouse’s The Ritual Animal, Norenzayan’s Big Gods & his collaborative paper, “The Cultural Evolution of Prosocial Religions,” or Brusse et al., “Explaining costly religious practices.” There are numerous studies on this.

Aug 26, 2024 · 4 likes · 37,702 followers View post →

All mentions

Paula Droege
@pauladroege.bsky.social · Bluesky

S2E6: In the next several videos, I’ll be looking at the social aspects of spirituality. Today’s video asks: Did religion evolve? TLDR: yes, but it’s not that simple. youtu.be/a7CFx21898Q #evolution #religion #oxytocin #AnimalEthics #selfishgene

Aug 22, 2025 View post →
PaulaDroege
@PaulaDroege · X

S2E6: In the next several videos, I’ll be looking at the social aspects of spirituality. Today’s video asks: Did religion evolve? TLDR: yes, but it’s not that simple. https://t.co/xU44Wx6boU #evolution #religion #oxytocin #AnimalEthics #selfishgene

Aug 22, 2025 · 1 like · 39 followers View post →
Moh Abdul Hakim
@MAHakim11 · X

RT @mmuthukrishna: @ClayCampaigne Probably should have said Western civilization. Couple of good papers on the topic more broadly: https:/…

Jun 30, 2025 · 1 share · 237 followers View post →
Michael Muthukrishna
@mmuthukrishna · X

@ClayCampaigne Probably should have said Western civilization. Couple of good papers on the topic more broadly: https://t.co/2O3eHYpyX8 https://t.co/QA7SGmrprh

Jun 29, 2025 · 5 likes · 1 share · 6,267 followers View post →
Martin Fieder
@MartinFieder · X

@kub0711 @wundertussi kann nur empfehlen die Hintergrund Literatur zu lesen, denke dann wird schnell klar was ich meine- anbei der links https://t.co/RsoXlpK1SF Haben dazu auch Überblick Artikel geschrieben https://t.co/caYwbZ1cRx

Jun 5, 2025 · 2 likes · 5,108 followers View post →
The Fleetadmiral
@derFleetadmiral · X

@DarthFreder Moral & Ideologien als Anpassungsstrategien Haidt, J. (2012). The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. Norenzayan, A. et al. (2016). The cultural evolution of prosocial religions. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 39.

Apr 14, 2025 · 4,582 followers View post →
Jeremy Ginges
@jeremyginges.bsky.social · Bluesky

Theory about the cultural evolution of prosocial religions suggests that belief in big gods is likely to have negative effects on intergroup cooperation, particularly when group relations are adversarial.

Jan 26, 2025 · 1 like · 1 share View post →
Dan McClellan
@maklelan · X

@DrZacharyHarris This is how prosociality works. You can check out Whitehouse’s The Ritual Animal, Norenzayan’s Big Gods & his collaborative paper, “The Cultural Evolution of Prosocial Religions,” or Brusse et al., “Explaining costly religious practices.” There are numerous studies on this.

Aug 26, 2024 · 4 likes · 37,702 followers View post →
GrumpyViking
@3Vikings1 · X

@MauroDias13 @muir2021 https://t.co/6URl1vTGZK

Oct 11, 2023 · 418 followers View post →
Cameron Brodie
@CameronBro86170 · X

@janeclarejones Extending radical constructivim to health is entirely sensible. Honest.

Aug 29, 2023 · 435 followers View post →
McGuire
@SonOfGuire · X

Had no idea this is where we were in the cognitive science of religion. Apparently our religious beliefs and practices are nonadaptive byproducts of our innate cognitive functions. Pretty cool I guess

Mar 20, 2023 · 679 followers View post →
Bob
@fluxcapdoodah · X

RT @_alice_evans: Why do so many religions ritualise painful self-sacrifice? Painful displays are very *credible* evidence of faith. They…

Feb 9, 2023 · 10 shares · 687 followers View post →
Hilde Lange
@lange_hild · X

RT @_alice_evans: Why do so many religions ritualise painful self-sacrifice? Painful displays are very *credible* evidence of faith. They…

Feb 9, 2023 · 10 shares · 50 followers View post →
Alice Evans
@_alice_evans · X

Why do so many religions ritualise painful self-sacrifice? Painful displays are very *credible* evidence of faith. They signal strong commitment. This likely enhances religiosity, which in turn promotes large-scale social cooperation and solidarity https://t.co/nAVdZ0VwKO https://t.co/ALeoBoK4Ej

Feb 9, 2023 · 47 likes · 10 shares · 58,265 followers View post →
Ola Söderholm
@OlaSoderholm · X

@satansfjant Ok, är t ex detta han refererar till https://t.co/y72xJzqRXW

Jan 26, 2023 · 1 like · 34,787 followers View post →
Anke Schwind
@AnkeSchwind · X

The cultural evolution of prosocial religions https://t.co/hkCFisU88d

Jan 7, 2023 · 831 followers View post →
Michael Muthukrishna
@mmuthukrishna · X

- cultural evolution of religion and role in large-scale cooperation (e.g. https://t.co/2O3eHYp17A, https://t.co/TTcKISVM5n, etc) @JoHenrich @slingerland20 @GuessRita @aiyanakoka @wgervais @azimshariff @corenapicella @DrQueue @xygalatas 3/

Jan 12, 2022 · 6 likes · 6,267 followers View post →
Robb D. Robot
@Robbservations · X

@simonfrans @pinkheretic “The cultural evolution of prosocial religions” https://t.co/saT6ZgfY0j

Sep 5, 2021 · 1 like · 286 followers View post →
Bipartisan Alliance
@jorgemata · X

From 2014... The cultural evolution of prosocial religions https://t.co/TornJKKe0H

Jul 2, 2021 · 185 followers View post →
Edward Slingerland
@slingerland20 · X

RT @mmuthukrishna: Religion & selection, see this award winning paper: https://t.co/2O3eHYp17A by Norenzayan, @azimshariff @wgervais @aiyan…

Apr 6, 2021 · 2 shares · 3,903 followers View post →
Michael Muthukrishna
@mmuthukrishna · X

RT @4misceldah: "The cultural evolution of prosocial religions" Click through to read the abstract---ton of insight packed into a few words.

Apr 6, 2021 · 1 share · 6,267 followers View post →
Rajesh Thipparapu
@Rajeshtipparapu · X

RT @mmuthukrishna: Religion & selection, see this award winning paper: https://t.co/2O3eHYp17A by Norenzayan, @azimshariff @wgervais @aiyan…

Apr 6, 2021 · 2 shares · 285 followers View post →
Social Finance, David Hirshleifer
@4misceldah · X

"The cultural evolution of prosocial religions" Click through to read the abstract---ton of insight packed into a few words. https://t.co/Wdc5caAuvY

Apr 6, 2021 · 1 like · 1 share · 5,266 followers View post →
Michael Muthukrishna
@mmuthukrishna · X

Religion & selection, see this award winning paper: https://t.co/2O3eHYp17A by Norenzayan, @azimshariff @wgervais @aiyanakoka @GuessRita @slingerland20 @JoHenrich History on the competition, including conservative vs liberal (in US): https://t.co/EYibsqqmzO @boutela @birchlse https://t.co/lTpbGodcMy

Apr 6, 2021 · 9 likes · 2 shares · 6,267 followers View post →
PA Psych Assoc.
@PaPsyAssn · X

The cultural evolution of prosocial religions https://t.co/kec0xfenL7

Feb 27, 2020 · 1,185 followers View post →
Ezequiel
@ezetorto · X

@ecres70 The Cultural Evolution of Prosocial Religions.

Oct 26, 2019 · 1 like · 2,869 followers View post →
alt.
@hyp0thesized · X

@catuaries hahah baca scipop aja udah sombs nih baca jurnal https://t.co/MrrhR7m890

Sep 12, 2019 · 1 like · 1,338 followers View post →
novemberrain1108
@Tatsunori_Ishii · X

Norenzayan et al.(2016) を読み込んでいるけど「集団間競争 (intergroup competition) が文化進化 (cultural evolution) を促す」というのがなぜなのか、いまいちよくわからない。 https://t.co/kIauO2KM4V

May 29, 2019 · 3 likes · 1 share · 640 followers View post →
Michael Muthukrishna
@mmuthukrishna · X

You might be thinking of "The cultural evolution of prosocial religions" BBS paper: https://t.co/jNP6T20p6A https://t.co/YGRF28RaV3

May 24, 2019 · 3 likes · 6,267 followers View post →
Tordo
@GALandfried · X

RT @JoHenrich: My current views on the evolution of religions are still best summarized in this paper: The Cultural Evolution of Prosocial…

Apr 1, 2019 · 11 shares · 343 followers View post →
@bc1qa
@4E93C4B107FEA2 · X

RT @JoHenrich: My current views on the evolution of religions are still best summarized in this paper: The Cultural Evolution of Prosocial…

Mar 31, 2019 · 11 shares · 3,247 followers View post →
Hans Sandberg
@TheNordicLink · X

RT @JoHenrich: My current views on the evolution of religions are still best summarized in this paper: The Cultural Evolution of Prosocial…

Mar 31, 2019 · 11 shares · 235 followers View post →
alfanje
@alfanje · X

RT @JoHenrich: My current views on the evolution of religions are still best summarized in this paper: The Cultural Evolution of Prosocial…

Mar 31, 2019 · 11 shares · 155 followers View post →
Pragmatic Christian Podcast
@PragmaticChrist · X

RT @JoHenrich: My current views on the evolution of religions are still best summarized in this paper: The Cultural Evolution of Prosocial…

Mar 30, 2019 · 11 shares · 150 followers View post →
Hayden Bruce
@HaydenSBruce · X

RT @JoHenrich: My current views on the evolution of religions are still best summarized in this paper: The Cultural Evolution of Prosocial…

Mar 30, 2019 · 11 shares · 583 followers View post →
Doug Norton
@norton_econ · X

RT @JoHenrich: My current views on the evolution of religions are still best summarized in this paper: The Cultural Evolution of Prosocial…

Mar 30, 2019 · 11 shares · 552 followers View post →
David B. Yaden
@ExistWell · X

RT @JoHenrich: My current views on the evolution of religions are still best summarized in this paper: The Cultural Evolution of Prosocial…

Mar 30, 2019 · 11 shares · 7,189 followers View post →
Aksel Sterri
@AkselSterri · X

RT @JoHenrich: My current views on the evolution of religions are still best summarized in this paper: The Cultural Evolution of Prosocial…

Mar 30, 2019 · 11 shares · 9,350 followers View post →
Joe Henrich
@JoHenrich · X

My current views on the evolution of religions are still best summarized in this paper: The Cultural Evolution of Prosocial Religions in BBS. https://t.co/TeSsSqH80v https://t.co/bvCeN9jorD

Mar 30, 2019 · 62 likes · 11 shares · 24,651 followers View post →