Religion and expanding the cooperative sphere in Kastom and Christian villages on Tanna, Vanuatu

The coexistence of Christian and traditional "Kastom" beliefs on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu provides an especially interesting environment in which to investigate the association between religion and cooperation. Here I use an experimental economic game together with ethnographic and s...

Description complète

Enregistré dans:  
Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Atkinson, Quentin D. (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
Vérifier la disponibilité: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
En cours de chargement...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Publié: Routledge 2018
Dans: Religion, brain & behavior
Année: 2018, Volume: 8, Numéro: 2, Pages: 149-167
Sujets non-standardisés:B Vanuatu
B Cultural Evolution
B evolution of cooperation
B supernatural punishment
Accès en ligne: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Résumé:The coexistence of Christian and traditional "Kastom" beliefs on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu provides an especially interesting environment in which to investigate the association between religion and cooperation. Here I use an experimental economic game together with ethnographic and survey data to compare religious beliefs and practices and their association with cooperative behavior across two communities - one predominantly Christian and one predominantly Kastom. Results show some evidence of bias in favor of the self in the Kastom but not the Christian village, although the overall allocations are not significantly different between villages. Allocations to self or own village were generally lower for those who professed belief in a more omniscient and rewarding supernatural agent and for those who engaged in ritual acts of devotion more frequently, although the relationship with ritual devotion and local garden spirit beliefs varied across sites. These findings highlight intriguing differences between the two sites and provide some support for the hypothesis that elements of religion may function to facilitate the expansion of cooperation to co-religionists beyond the local community.
ISSN:2153-5981
Contient:Enthalten in: Religion, brain & behavior
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/2153599X.2016.1267028