RT Article
T1 Valuing Care Protects Religiosity from the Antisocial Consequences of Impersonal Deontology
JF Journal of empirical theology
VO 29
IS 2
SP 171
OP 189
A1 Deak, Csilla
A1 Saroglou, Vassilis
LA English
PB Brill
YR 2016
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1562019708
AB Morality typically includes prosociality but often also extends to impersonal deontology. Religion, theoretically and empirically, is concerned with both moral domains. What happens when the two domains are in conflict? Do religious people prefer impersonal deontology at the detriment of prosociality? Or do their prosocial inclinations allow them to transgress conflicting moral principles, for instance through white lies? Participants (177 Belgian adults) made a choice in several hypothetical moral dilemmas and were afterwards evaluated on Haidt’s moral foundations (care, fairness, authority, loyalty, and purity) and religiosity. When the conflict implied minor consequences for the target, religiosity predicted impersonal deontology at the detriment of prosociality, because of a high endorsement of purity. However, when the consequences were severe, religiosity was unrelated to impersonal deontology due to a suppressor effect of care. The findings indicate that prosocial dispositions shape religiosity into a ‘compassionate moral rigorism’, thus protecting it from excessive moralism.
K1 Care : purity : deontology : consequentialism : morality : religiosity
DO 10.1163/15709256-12341339