Parochial prosocial religions: Historical and contemporary evidence for a cultural evolutionary process
Abstract
In our response to the 27 commentaries, we refine the theoretical claims, clarify several misconceptions of our framework, and explore substantial disagreements. In doing so, we (1) show that our framework accommodates multiple historical scenarios; (2) debate the historical evidence, particularly about “pre-Axial” religions; (3) offer important details about cultural evolutionary theory; (4) clarify the term prosociality; and (4) discuss proximal mechanisms. We review many interesting extensions, amplifications, and qualifications of our approach made by the commentators.
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A belief or behaviour within religious and/or spiritual cultural complexes need only promote individuals' tendencies to take on a cost for the benefit of their focal group in order to produce cooperation and its associated prosocial effects (parochial altruism).
“Similarly, a belief or behaviour within religious and/or spiritual cultural complexes need only promote individuals' tendencies to take on a cost for the benefit of their focal group in order for it to produce cooperation and its associated prosocial effects (a phenomenon known as parochial altruism: García and van den Bergh 2011; Choi and Bowles 2007; Norenzayan et al. 2016b).”
From Cultural Evolution of Religion, Spirituality and Ritual: Impacts On Human Cooperation (2024) · cites this paper as Norenzayan et al. 2016b
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Payne, R. K., & Tanaka, K. K. (2008) · doi:10.21313/9780824842987 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Supernatural, social, and self-monitoring in the scaling-up of Chinese civilization
Sarkissian, H. (2014) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2014.928358 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Scott Atran, B. (2011) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199586073.003.0014 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
1 of the 136 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
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The loosening of American culture over 200 years is associated with a creativity–order trade-off
Jackson, J. C., Gelfand, M. J., De, S., & Fox, A. M. (2019) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-018-0516-z · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Sterelny, K. (2016) · Philosophy of Science · doi:10.1086/687260 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Eom, K., Saad, C. S., & Kim, H. S. (2020) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167220948712 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
The Origins of Religious Disbelief: A Dual Inheritance Approach
Gervais, W. M., Najle, M. B., & Caluori, N. (2019) · Social Psychology and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/1948550621994001 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Self-citationde Oliveira, G. S., & Baggs, E. (2023) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009303538 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Marini, D., Medema, W., Adamowski, J., Veissière, S. P. L., Mayer, I., & Wals, A. (2018) · Water · doi:10.3390/w10081097 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Evolutionary, Cognitive, and Contextual Approaches to the Study of Religious Systems
Lang, M., & Kundt, R. (2019) · Method & Theory in the Study of Religion · doi:10.1163/15700682-12341466 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Ng, B. K. L., & Gervais, W. M. (2016) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781316161579.015 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Self-citationLang, M. (2019) · Archive for the Psychology of Religion · doi:10.1177/0084672419894682 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Rules of thumb, from Holocene to Anthropocene
Kaaronen, R., Manninen, M. A., & Eronen, J. (2023) · The Anthropocene Review · doi:10.1177/20530196221149105 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Religious rules as a means of strengthening family ties: Theory and evidence from the Amish
Choy, J. P. (2020) · Journal of Comparative Economics · doi:10.1016/j.jce.2019.12.007 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
God Values the Lives of My Out-Group More Than I Do: Evidence From Fiji and Israel
Pasek, M. H., Shackleford, C. M., Smith, J. M., Vishkin, A., Lehner, A., & Ginges, J. (2020) · Social Psychological and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/1948550620904516 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
What anthropologists can learn from psychologists, and the other way around
Weisman, K., & Luhrmann, T. M. (2020) · Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute · doi:10.1111/1467-9655.13245 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Peering into the Minds of Gods
Bendixen, T., & Purzycki, B. G. (2020) · Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion · doi:10.1558/jcsr.40951 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
What is the association between religious affiliation and children’s altruism?
Shariff, A., Willard, A. K., Muthukrishna, M., Kramer, S. R., & Henrich, J. (2016) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.06.031 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Self-citationWhen can cultural selection explain adaptation?
Chellappoo, A. (2022) · Biology & Philosophy · doi:10.1007/s10539-021-09831-0 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
RELIGION AND RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AS EVOLUTIONARY ADAPTATIONS
Szocik, K. (2017) · Zygon® · doi:10.1111/zygo.12324 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Theory and Empiricism of Religious Evolution (THERE): Foundation of a Research Program. Part 1
Krech, V. (2018) · Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft · doi:10.1515/zfr-2017-0027 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
The Cultural Evolution of Religion and Cooperation
Bendixen, T., Lightner, A. D., & Purzycki, B. G. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198869252.013.47 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Weinberger, A. B., Gallagher, N. M., Warren, Z. J., English, G., Moghaddam, F. M., & Green, A. E. (2020) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-020-18362-3 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Paleček, M. (2016) · Philosophy of the Social Sciences · doi:10.1177/0048393116672833 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
The ego dampening influence of religion: evidence from behavioral genetics and psychology
Sasaki, J. Y., & Kim, H. S. (2020) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.08.007 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
van Mulukom, V., & Lang, M. (2021) · Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion · doi:10.1558/jcsr.19803 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Ecospirituality Predicts Pro-Environmental Outcomes Across Cultures
Billet, M. I., & Baimel, A. (2026) · Environment and Behavior · doi:10.1177/00139165261421073 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Cultural Evolution of Religion, Spirituality and Ritual: Impacts On Human Cooperation
McNamara, R. A. (2024) · KZfSS Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie · doi:10.1007/s11577-024-00937-3 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Self-citationVarah, S. K., Khongrei, E., Mahongnao, M., & Varah, F. (2021) · Culture and Religion · doi:10.1080/14755610.2023.2177317 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Coleman, & Thomas, J. C. (2016) · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Collective narratives catalyse cooperation
Gokhale, C. S., Bulbulia, J. A., & Frean, M. R. (2022) · Humanities and Social Sciences Communications · doi:10.1057/s41599-022-01095-7 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Chung, D.-Y. (2020) · Advances in Applied Sociology · doi:10.4236/aasoci.2020.10923 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Inside and Outside Perspectives on Institutions: An Economic Theory of the Noble Lie
Harwick, C. (2020) · Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch · doi:10.3790/schm.140.1.3 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Ling, L., Zheng, X., Cao, G., & Lc, R. (2026) · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1145/3816988 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Sullivan, B., Muthukrishna, M., Tappenden, F. S., & Slingerland, E. (2018) · Journal of Cognitive Historiography · doi:10.1558/jch.31656 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationSlingerland, E. (2015) · Religion · doi:10.1080/0048721x.2015.1073487 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationEmotional bonds: Bridging the gap between evolutionary and humanistic accounts of religious belief
Turner, L. (2020) · Archive for the Psychology of Religion · doi:10.1177/0084672420909436 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Tan, J. H. W., & Bolle, F. (2023) · Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics · doi:10.1016/j.socec.2023.102034 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Academic Study of Religions in a Cognitive, Anthropological and Sociological Perspective
Kotherová, S., Lužný, D., & Havelka, R. (2021) · doi:10.5507/ff.21.24459820 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Big Gods” in Ancient Mesopotamia
Prochownik, K. (2022) · Journal of Cognitive Historiography · doi:10.1558/jch.22650 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Purzycki, B. G., & Bendixen, T. (2025) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108894357.029 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Tradeoffs and cultural diversityPreprint
Karin, O., & Alon, U. (2018) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/263905 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Salazar, C. (2017) · Open Theology · doi:10.1515/opth-2017-0049
Beit‐Hallahmi, B. (2020) · Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion · doi:10.1558/jcsr.42183
Bias against Atheists and Religious Persons in Sweden
Hallin, N., Västfjäll, D., & Andersson, G. (2020) · Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion · doi:10.1558/jcsr.41002
Theistic Evidentialism and the Cognitive Science of Morality
Kvandal, H. (2021) · New approaches to the scientific study of religion · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-83178-3_4
Religionistika v kognitivní, antropologické a sociologické perspektivě
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Hayes, G. A. (2022) · Journal of Cognitive Historiography · doi:10.1558/jch.23124
Cognition and religiosity: Who is most likely to believe?
Zmigrod, L. (2019) · PsyPag Quarterly · doi:10.53841/bpspag.2019.1.111.22
Social capital and executives’ pay dispersion: evidence from US public firms
Cui, Y., Li, J., & Nishikawa, T. (2026) · International Journal of Managerial Finance · doi:10.1108/ijmf-08-2025-0437
Abang, K. B., Valentine Joseph Owan, P. D., Ojini, R. A., Otu, B. D., Anagbogu, G. E., & Beshel, C. A. (2024) · Psychological Science and Education · doi:10.17759/pse.2024290206
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Kenaphoom, S., & Senawiang, P. (2026) · Journal of Applied Humanities Studies · doi:10.65680/jahs.v4i1.8654
Disentangling Religiosity: Specific Religious Perspectives Reduce Intergroup Bias
Cappellen, P. V., Bernal, A. M., & Liu, C. (2026) · Group Processes & Intergroup Relations · doi:10.1177/13684302261469469
Oaths of Allegiance to a Moral Order
Feder, Y. (2026) · Altorientalische Forschungen · doi:10.1515/aofo-2026-3004
Hong, Z. (2026) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2026.2712227
- Authors
- Norenzayan, A., Shariff, A. F., Gervais, W. M., Willard, A. K., McNamara, R. A., Slingerland, E., & Henrich, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Oregon (US)
- University of Kentucky (US)
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Harvard University (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Behavioral and Brain Sciences
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2016
- Volume
- 39
- Pages
- e29-e29
- ISSN
- 0140-525X (ISSN-L)
- 1469-1825
- OpenAlex
- W2298775266
- Cited by
- 58
- References
- 136
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 15.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Behavioral and Brain Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Language and cultural evolution
- Keywords
- prosocial behavior, religion, cultural evolution, parochialism, evolution of religion
- MeSH terms
- Cultural Evolution, Religion
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
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