The discussions express enthusiasm about how beliefs in monitoring and punishing gods foster cooperation beyond immediate social circles, with users commenting on how the research's evidence from 15 societies makes a compelling case. The tone combines scientific interest with recognition of the societal importance, such as references to expanding social interaction and trust, highlighting how the detailed summaries and favorable language reflect a high level of engagement and perceived significance.
AgreementModerate agreement
Most discussions acknowledge that the research supports the idea that moralizing gods promote broader cooperation, with several explicitly endorsing the findings.
InterestHigh interest
Posts demonstrate strong curiosity, referencing detailed experimental results and linking them to societal implications, indicating high engagement.
EngagementHigh engagement
Users delve into methodological details, cite specific examples from the research, and discuss implications for understanding religious influence, showing deep involvement.
ImpactHigh impact
Many comments recognize the significance of the findings in explaining social cohesion and cooperation across societies, suggesting a high perceived impact.
Abstract in brief
The study tests hypotheses about how beliefs in moralizing gods influence cooperation across different societies, including foragers, pastoralists, and religious groups like Buddhists, Christians, and Hindus.
Through experiments involving money-sharing games, the research finds that viewing gods as monitoring and punishing correlates with less favoritism toward local groups and greater resource sharing with distant co-religionists.
The results suggest that moralizing gods may play a role in promoting cooperation beyond immediate social circles, especially in contexts where intergroup hostility is low, pointing to their influence on expanding social alliances across groups.
4/ مقالۀ مردمشناسی Proc Biol Sci: در مقایسه با اعتقادات بدوی به خدایان محلی، اعتقادات دینی به خدای یکتای عالم/قادر مطلق و بهشت/جهنم باعث افزایش همبستگی و همکاری اجتماعی میشود: از علتهای احتمالی ظهور جوامع و تمدنهای بزرگ.
https://t.co/a7SrWjOg5y https://t.co/5TUDuJo0PE
Jun 1, 2022 · 10 likes · 2,850 followersView post →
JH
Joe Henrich
@JoHenrich · X
Beyond this: our team then takes a series of deep dives into local ethnographic contexts to understand our prosociality experimental task. We published our cross-cultural paper on this in Proc-b: https://t.co/o2uuLW0q4W
العصر الهولوسيني (Holocene).
وهو العصر الجيولوجي الحالي، بدأ بعد نهاية العصر الجليدي الأخير.
في الهولوسين (منذ 11,700 سنة)، انتقل البشر من الصيد والجمع إلى الزراعة وبناء القرى، مما خلق مجتمعات أكبر وأكثر تعقيداً. كيف تمكن البشر من إدارة اعدد كبيرة
https://t.co/i16AFmXw0L https://t.co/bpcvDwPqZZ
Jun 22, 2025 · 4 likes · 1 share · 758 followersView post →
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lostlanes
@lostlanes11 · X
@visakanv Perhaps the benefits were well spread among people with a common god who could now trust that they were all playing by the same moral rules: https://t.co/L79s9Xgl75 But yes, surprised if the elites did not benefit most from the new order.
Sharing varied based on perceptions of god. Over 2000 people from 15 societies and 5+ religions showed less local favoritism and shared more resources with distant co-religionists (in allocation games) if they viewed gods as monitoring, punishing agents.
https://t.co/HWuh7Vz1uU
Mar 22, 2019 · 1 like · 3,493 followersView post →
This video explores how beliefs in moralizing gods influence cooperation across societies. Experiments show that viewing gods as monitoring and punishing encourages resource sharing beyond local groups, fostering…
This video explores how prosocial religions originated to promote cooperation and social cohesion among large groups, aiding in intergroup conflicts and success. It discusses beliefs, rituals, and cultural evolution…
العصر الهولوسيني (Holocene).
وهو العصر الجيولوجي الحالي، بدأ بعد نهاية العصر الجليدي الأخير.
في الهولوسين (منذ 11,700 سنة)، انتقل البشر من الصيد والجمع إلى الزراعة وبناء القرى، مما خلق مجتمعات أكبر وأكثر تعقيداً. كيف تمكن البشر من إدارة اعدد كبيرة
https://t.co/i16AFmXw0L https://t.co/bpcvDwPqZZ
Jun 22, 2025 · 4 likes · 1 share · 758 followersView post →
JS
Jeffrey G. Snodgrass
@GodfreySnorgyrs · X
RT @JoHenrich: Beyond this: our team then takes a series of deep dives into local ethnographic contexts to understand our prosociality expe…
4/ مقالۀ مردمشناسی Proc Biol Sci: در مقایسه با اعتقادات بدوی به خدایان محلی، اعتقادات دینی به خدای یکتای عالم/قادر مطلق و بهشت/جهنم باعث افزایش همبستگی و همکاری اجتماعی میشود: از علتهای احتمالی ظهور جوامع و تمدنهای بزرگ.
https://t.co/a7SrWjOg5y https://t.co/5TUDuJo0PE
Jun 1, 2022 · 10 likes · 2,850 followersView post →
H
Hosaary
@BrunoMascella · X
RT @JoHenrich: Beyond this: our team then takes a series of deep dives into local ethnographic contexts to understand our prosociality expe…
Beyond this: our team then takes a series of deep dives into local ethnographic contexts to understand our prosociality experimental task. We published our cross-cultural paper on this in Proc-b: https://t.co/o2uuLW0q4W
@CrusherAtheist Something like this is not really all that useful.
I found a few that by using questions could create data or scale of religion.
R/S Religious/Spiritual in another study
Moralizing gods, impartiality and religious parochialism across 15 societies https://t.co/91VicSDtPB
@visakanv Perhaps the benefits were well spread among people with a common god who could now trust that they were all playing by the same moral rules: https://t.co/L79s9Xgl75 But yes, surprised if the elites did not benefit most from the new order.
@amma_panin To add to the great suggestions so far, some with a moral/religious dimension:
- https://t.co/mgi3akN96q
- https://t.co/qvlSrang5W
And another involving children:
- https://t.co/9voChW7T5l
7. This was later supported by a replication and extension using more cultures and an additional behavioral economic game: https://t.co/JOTxRqi5Iw https://t.co/gct8KkPHOZ
Trestající bůh socializuje: "we found that higher ratings of gods as monitoring and punishing predicted decreased local favouritism and increased resource-sharing with distant co-religionists." https://t.co/hE2yrzrdFT https://t.co/0BlDu6PB1s
@judystout1 In line with previous work suggesting that “moralizing gods may be implicated in cooperative behaviour toward outgroups [and] that beliefs in monitoring and punitive gods help expand the circle of sustainable social interaction”. https://t.co/4MtB4l887t
New paper from @martinlangcz, @BGPurzycki, @corenapicella, @DrQueue and others. Economic games show that big moralizing Gods expand the scope of parochial cooperation, permitting large scale cooperation. https://t.co/N8eO67A5Ve
Sharing varied based on perceptions of god. Over 2000 people from 15 societies and 5+ religions showed less local favoritism and shared more resources with distant co-religionists (in allocation games) if they viewed gods as monitoring, punishing agents.
https://t.co/HWuh7Vz1uU
Mar 22, 2019 · 1 like · 3,493 followersView post →
AL
Anthony C. Lopez
@EvoPolitics · X
"These results provide support for the hypothesis that beliefs in monitoring and punitive gods help expand the circle of sustainable social interaction, and open questions about the treatment of religious outgroups." https://t.co/osBmQNg8Tb
Almost read 'puny' gods...How belief in punitive gods may have helped large societies cooperate https://t.co/eXVHuNhquN paper here:https://t.co/bbOpBstIzr #religion #morality #society #cooperation
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