The cultural evolution of prosocial religions

J 2016

The cultural evolution of prosocial religions

NORENZAYAN, Ara; Azim F. SHARIFF; Will M. GERVAIS; Aiyana K. WILLARD; Rita A. MCNAMARA et al.

Základní údaje

Originální název

The cultural evolution of prosocial religions

Autoři

NORENZAYAN, Ara; Azim F. SHARIFF; Will M. GERVAIS; Aiyana K. WILLARD; Rita A. MCNAMARA; Edward SLINGERLAND a Joseph HENRICH

Vydání

BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES, CAMBRIDGE, CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS, 2016, 0140-525X

Další údaje

Typ výsledku

Článek v odborném periodiku

Impakt faktor

Impact factor: 14.200

Označené pro přenos do RIV

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X14001356

UT WoS

000375051800001

Klíčová slova anglicky

belief; cooperation; culture; evolution; prosociality; religion; ritual

Změněno: 21. 1. 2026 00:07, Mgr. Milan Fujda, Ph.D.

Anotace

V originále

We develop a cultural evolutionary theory of the origins of prosocial religions and apply it to resolve two puzzles in human psychology and cultural history: (1) the rise of large-scale cooperation among strangers and, simultaneously, (2) the spread of prosocial religions in the last 10-12 millennia. We argue that these two developments were importantly linked and mutually energizing. We explain how a package of culturally evolved religious beliefs and practices characterized by increasingly potent, moralizing, supernatural agents, credible displays of faith, and other psychologically active elements conducive to social solidarity promoted high fertility rates and large-scale cooperation with co-religionists, often contributing to success in intergroup competition and conflict. In turn, prosocial religious beliefs and practices spread and aggregated as these successful groups expanded, or were copied by less successful groups. This synthesis is grounded in the idea that although religious beliefs and practices originally arose as nonadaptive by-products of innate cognitive functions, particular cultural variants were then selected for their prosocial effects in a long-term, cultural evolutionary process. This framework (1) reconciles key aspects of the adaptationist and by-product approaches to the origins of religion, (2) explains a variety of empirical observations that have not received adequate attention, and (3) generates novel predictions. Converging lines of evidence drawn from diverse disciplines provide empirical support while at the same time encouraging new research directions and opening up new questions for exploration and debate.

Citovat

NORENZAYAN, Ara; Azim F. SHARIFF; Will M. GERVAIS; Aiyana K. WILLARD; Rita A. MCNAMARA; Edward SLINGERLAND a Joseph HENRICH. The cultural evolution of prosocial religions. BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES. CAMBRIDGE: CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS, 2016, roč. 39, s. 1-30. ISSN 0140-525X. Dostupné z: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X14001356.

@article{2548853,
   author = {Norenzayan, Ara and Shariff, Azim F. and Gervais, Will M. and Willard, Aiyana K. and McNamara, Rita A. and Slingerland, Edward and Henrich, Joseph},
   article_location = {CAMBRIDGE},
   doi = {https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X14001356},
   keywords = {belief; cooperation; culture; evolution; prosociality; religion; ritual},
   issn = {0140-525X},
   journal = {BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES},
   title = {The cultural evolution of prosocial religions},
   volume = {39},
   year = {2016}
}

TY  - JOUR
ID  - 2548853
AU  - Norenzayan, Ara - Shariff, Azim F. - Gervais, Will M. - Willard, Aiyana K. - McNamara, Rita A. - Slingerland, Edward - Henrich, Joseph
PY  - 2016
TI  - The cultural evolution of prosocial religions
JF  - BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES
VL  - 39
SP  - 1-30
EP  - 1-30
PB  - CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
SN  - 0140525X
KW  - belief
KW  - cooperation
KW  - culture
KW  - evolution
KW  - prosociality
KW  - religion
KW  - ritual
N2  - We develop a cultural evolutionary theory of the origins of prosocial religions and apply it to resolve two puzzles in human psychology and cultural history: (1) the rise of large-scale cooperation among strangers and, simultaneously, (2) the spread of prosocial religions in the last 10-12 millennia. We argue that these two developments were importantly linked and mutually energizing. We explain how a package of culturally evolved religious beliefs and practices characterized by increasingly potent, moralizing, supernatural agents, credible displays of faith, and other psychologically active elements conducive to social solidarity promoted high fertility rates and large-scale cooperation with co-religionists, often contributing to success in intergroup competition and conflict. In turn, prosocial religious beliefs and practices spread and aggregated as these successful groups expanded, or were copied by less successful groups. This synthesis is grounded in the idea that although religious beliefs and practices originally arose as nonadaptive by-products of innate cognitive functions, particular cultural variants were then selected for their prosocial effects in a long-term, cultural evolutionary process. This framework (1) reconciles key aspects of the adaptationist and by-product approaches to the origins of religion, (2) explains a variety of empirical observations that have not received adequate attention, and (3) generates novel predictions. Converging lines of evidence drawn from diverse disciplines provide empirical support while at the same time encouraging new research directions and opening up new questions for exploration and debate.
ER  -

NORENZAYAN, Ara; Azim F. SHARIFF; Will M. GERVAIS; Aiyana K. WILLARD; Rita A. MCNAMARA; Edward SLINGERLAND a Joseph HENRICH. The cultural evolution of prosocial religions. \textit{BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES}. CAMBRIDGE: CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS, 2016, roč.~39, s.~1-30. ISSN~0140-525X. Dostupné z: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X14001356.

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