Good for God? Religious motivation reduces perceived responsibility for and morality of good deeds.
Abstract
Many people view religion as a crucial source of morality. However, 6 experiments (total N = 1,078) revealed that good deeds are perceived as less moral if they are performed for religious reasons. Religiously motivated acts were seen as less moral than the exact same acts performed for other reasons (Experiments 1-2 and 6). Religious motivations also reduced attributions of intention and responsibility (Experiments 3-6), an effect that fully mediated the effect of religious motivations on perceived morality (Experiment 6). The effects were not explained by different perceptions of motivation orientation (i.e., intrinsic vs. extrinsic) across conditions (Experiment 4) and also were evident when religious upbringing led to an intuitive moral response (Experiment 5). Effects generalized across religious and nonreligious participants. When viewing a religiously motivated good deed, people infer that actually helping others is, in part, a side effect of other motivations rather than an end in itself. Thus, religiously motivated actors are seen as less responsible than secular actors for their good deeds, and their helping behavior is viewed as less moral than identical good deeds performed for either unclear or secular motivations.
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Various other considerations, such as reputational concerns and ingroup favoritism, may also explain observed differences in morally relevant behavior.
“Various other considerations, such as reputational concerns and ingroup favoritism, may also explain observed differences in morally relevant behavior [16, 17].”
From The amoral atheist? A cross-national examination of cultural, motivational, and cognitive antecedents of disbelief, and their implications for morality (2021) · cites this paper as [16]
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- Authors
- Gervais, W. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Kentucky (US)
- Corresponding author
- Gervais, Will M.
- ORCID
- Gervais, Will M.
- Venue
- Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
- Published
- 2014
- Volume
- 143
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 1616-1626
- ISSN
- 0096-3445 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-2222
- OpenAlex
- W2167424303
- Cited by
- 18
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 1.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Experimental Psychology General (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- religious motivation, perceived morality, good deeds, moral responsibility, intention attribution, religious upbringing, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, helping behavior, moral judgment, religion and morality
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Female, Humans, Male, Morals, Motivation, Perception, Religion, Social Behavior, Young Adult
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