Weathering the Storm
- 5 August 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Equinox Publishing in Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture
- Vol. 14 (1), 12-44
- https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.38538
Abstract
Religious and supernatural beliefs may facilitate social life by promoting and sustaining cooperation, but the specific cooperation problems each society faces may lead to unique belief systems adapted to local socio-ecological conditions. As societies mix and belief systems spread, local and introduced belief systems may present conflicting solutions to the same social problem. How do we choose among these different solutions? The present study recruits participation from villagers living on Yasawa Island, Fiji (n = 179) who espouse both Christian and Traditional beliefs that promote different expectations about local and distant others. This study focuses on the relationships among existential /resource insecurity and supernatural beliefs across these belief systems using an experimental priming procedure and a dictator game to allocate food resources. Though reminders of insecurity had no impact on allocations, the effects of being reminded of Christian or Traditional belief depended on (was moderated by) how worried participants were about resource availability and beliefs about the Christian God's tendency toward punishment or forgiveness. Analyses of interview data suggest Christian and Traditional imagery may evoke different conceptions of gods as either supportive (Christian) or authoritarian (Traditional). Results highlight belief content as key for sustaining different social support networks and traditional belief/knowledge systems as a source of community resilience against threats like natural disasters.Keywords
This publication has 62 references indexed in Scilit:
- Parasite-stress promotes in-group assortative sociality: The cases of strong family ties and heightened religiosityBehavioral and Brain Sciences, 2012
- Climato-Economic Origins of Variation in Ingroup FavoritismJournal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 2010
- Markets, Religion, Community Size, and the Evolution of Fairness and PunishmentScience, 2010
- Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analysesBehavior Research Methods, 2009
- Disintegration, Syncretization and Change in Fijian Religion.Mankind, 2009
- Five Rules for the Evolution of CooperationScience, 2006
- Cues of being watched enhance cooperation in a real-world settingBiology Letters, 2006
- Corrigendum: Becoming a Christian in Fiji: an ethnographic study of ontogenyJournal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 2004
- Risk and reciprocity in Meriam food sharingEvolution and Human Behavior, 2002
- Crafting Sociocentric Selves in Religious Discourse in Rural FijiEthos, 2001