Prime and punishment: effect of religious priming and group membership on prosocial behavior

Abstract

This research investigates the influence of religious priming and group membership on prosocial behavior, measured by the willingness to donate to fictitious charities in a hypothetical scenario. A sample of 258 Hindu participants, averaging 21.3 years of age, were engaged in an online study designed on PsyToolkit. The study employed a 3*2 factorial design, wherein participants were subliminally primed with concepts of “reward” and “punishment” within religious contexts through a lexical decision task. Post-priming, individuals were presented with a decision to allocate a portion of a potential lucky draw prize to selected charities, which represented either their religious ingroup or an outgroup. The findings demonstrated that religious priming did not significantly enhance prosocial behavior toward either group. Bayesian analysis supported the absence of an effect for priming and group conditions. Moreover, other variables such as religiosity, sex, and political orientation showed no substantial effect on the likelihood of charitable giving. However, consistent with previous research, past charity behavior emerged as the most salient predictor of prosocial behavior, underscoring the importance of experiential factors in shaping altruistic tendencies. The study reflects on the influence of India’s secular and culturally rich backdrop, which may modulate the propensity to engage in charitable acts, especially when the donations come from unexpected gains rather than one’s own money. It reveals that prosocial behavior is shaped by a mix of situational and personal factors, not just religious beliefs. The research contributes to the understanding of prosocial behavior in diverse religious contexts and the role of personal experience in predicting charitable actions, advocating for further investigation into these dynamics.