Supernatural punishment, in-group biases, and material insecurity: experiments and ethnography from Yasawa, Fiji
Abstract
Threat of supernatural punishment can promote prosociality in large-scale societies; however, its impact in smaller societies with less powerful deities is less understood. Also, while perceived material insecurity has been associated with increasing religious belief, the relationships between insecurity, supernatural punishment beliefs, and prosocial behavior are unclear. In this study, we explore how material insecurity moderates the supernatural punishment beliefs that promote different expectations about distant, anonymous strangers among a sample of villagers living in Yasawa, Fiji. We examined this relationship by employing an economic game designed to measure local recipient favoritism vs. egalitarian, rule-following behavior. Using indices of three different “punishing” agents – the Christian God (“Bible God”), the deified ancestors (Kalou-vu), and the police – we find that increased belief in Bible God punishment predicts less local recipient favoritism at low and moderate but not high material insecurity. Punishing Kalou-vu also predicts less favoritism at low and moderate insecurity, but more favoritism at high insecurity. Police punishment poorly predicts favoritism, suggesting that secular authority has less impact on isolated communities. We discuss implications for understanding how different kinds of supernatural and secular agent beliefs impact prosocial behavior.
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Perhaps the biggest adaptive benefit that arises from prosocial religious belief systems is their capacity to expand the definition of who belongs within an in-group.
“Along these lines, perhaps the biggest adaptive benefit that arises from prosocial religious belief systems is their capacity to expand the definition of who belongs within an in-group (McNamara et al. 2016).”
From Cultural Evolution of Religion, Spirituality and Ritual: Impacts On Human Cooperation (2024) · cites this paper as McNamara et al. 2016
Factors such as religion, inequality, and resource scarcity may predict prejudice and discrimination across cultures.
“Factors such as religion, inequality, and resource scarcity may predict prejudice and discrimination across cultures [23,62–64].”
From Ecological and cultural factors underlying the global distribution of prejudice (2019) · cites this paper as [63]
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Xygalatas, D., Kotherová, S., Maňo, P., Kundt, R., Cigán, J., Klocová, E., & Lang, M. (2017) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2016.1267033 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Reputation and socio-ecology in humans
Romano, A., Giardini, F., Columbus, S., de Kwaadsteniet, E. W., Kisfalusi, D., Triki, Z., Snijders, C. C. P., & Hagel, K. (2021) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2020.0295 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Kin and kinship psychology both influence cooperative coordination in Yasawa, Fiji
McNamara, R. A., & Henrich, J. (2017) · Evolution and Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.09.004 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Motivational Underpinnings of Belief in God
Laurin, K., & Kay, A. C. (2017) · Advances in Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/bs.aesp.2017.02.004 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Paradox of diversity in the collective brain
Schimmelpfennig, R., Razek, L., Schnell, E., & Muthukrishna, M. (2021) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2020.0316 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Resource Stress Predicts Changes in Religious Belief and Increases in Sharing Behavior
Skoggard, I. A., Ember, C. R., Pitek, E., Jackson, J. C., & Carolus, C. M. (2020) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/s12110-020-09371-8 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Jesus vs. the ancestors: how specific religious beliefs shape prosociality on Yasawa Island, Fiji
McNamara, R. A., & Henrich, J. (2017) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2016.1267030 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Self-citationBuddhism, identity, and class: fairness and favoritism in the Tyva Republic
Purzycki, B. G., & Kulundary, V. (2017) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2016.1267031 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Bendixen, T., Apicella, C. L., Atkinson, Q. D., Cohen, E. E. A., Henrich, J., McNamara, R. A., Ara Norenzayan, A., Willard, A. K., Xygalatas, D., & Purzycki, B. G. (2023) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2023.2178487 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Self-citationRevisiting Psychological Mechanisms in the Anthropology of Altruism
Hackman, J., Munira, S., Jasmin, K., & Hruschka, D. J. (2016) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/s12110-016-9278-3 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Minds of gods and human cognitive constraints: socio-ecological context shapes belief
McNamara, R. A., & Purzycki, B. G. (2019) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2019.1678510 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Self-citationBig questions aboutBig Gods: response and discussion
Ara Norenzayan, A. (2014) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2014.928359 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Cigarettes for the dead: effects of sorcery beliefs on parochial prosociality in Mauritius
Klocová, E. K., Lang, M., Maňo, P., Kundt, R., & Xygalatas, D. (2022) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2021.2006286 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Multiple Axialities: A Computational Model of the Axial Age
Shults, F. L., Wildman, W. J., Lane, J. E., Lynch, C. J., & Diallo, S. Y. (2018) · Journal of Cognition and Culture · doi:10.1163/15685373-12340043 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Beliefs in inevitable justice curb revenge behaviours: Cultural perspectives on karma
Goyal, N., & Miller, J. G. (2022) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.2933 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Warlike and Peaceful Societies
Fog, A. (2017) · Open Book Publishers · doi:10.11647/obp.0128 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Breaches of Trust Change the Content and Structure of Religious Appeals
Purzycki, B. G., Stagnaro, M. N., & Sasaki, J. Y. (2020) · Journal for the Study of Religion Nature and Culture · doi:10.1558/jsrnc.38786 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
The Evolution of Culture and Institutions: Evidence from the Kuba Kingdom
Lowes, S., Nunn, N., Robinson, J. A., & Weigel, J. (2015) · National Bureau of Economic Research · doi:10.3386/w21798 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Moralizing gods and armed conflict
Skali, A. (2017) · Journal of Economic Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.joep.2017.01.009 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
The Evolution of Religion and Morality project: reflections and looking ahead
Purzycki, B., Lang, M., Henrich, J., & Norenzayan, A. (2022) · Religion, Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2021.2021546 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Self-citationReligiosity and resource allocation in Marajó, Brazil
Cohen, E. E. A., Baimel, A., & Purzycki, B. G. (2017) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2016.1267029 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
The moralization bias of gods' minds: a cross-cultural test
Purzycki, B. G., Willard, A. K., Klocová, E. K., Apicella, C. L., Atkinson, Q. D., Bolyanatz, A., Cohen, E. E. A., Handley, C., Henrich, J., Lang, M., et al. (2023) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781032624099-4 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Self-citationThe 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
Cultural tightness and resilience against environmental shocks in nonindustrial societies
Tverskoi, D., Ember, C. R., Gelfand, M. J., Jones, E. C., Skoggard, I. A., Toutée, L., & Sergey Gavrilets, B. (2024) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2403386121 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Purzycki, B. G. (2025) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009414036 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Existential uncertainty and religion
Engstrom, H. R., & Laurin, K. (2020) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-817204-9.00018-4 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Children’s and Adults’ Attribution of Moral Judgments to Human and Supernatural Agents
Payir, A., & Heiphetz, L. (2022) · Journal of Cognition and Development · doi:10.1080/15248372.2022.2061975 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Accounting for Cross-Cultural Variation in the Minds of Gods
Bendixen, T., & Purzycki, B. G. (2023) · Bloomsbury Academic eBooks · doi:10.5040/9781350265738.ch-0013 · 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
“Along these lines, perhaps the biggest adaptive benefit that arises from prosocial religious belief systems is their capacity to expand the definition of who belongs within an in-group (McNamara et al. 2016).”
Self-citationAl-Issa, R. S., Krauss, S. E., Roslan, S. B., & Abdullah, H. B. (2022) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel13020101 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
The Faith of Sacrifice: Leadership Trade-Offs in an Afro-Brazilian Religion
Soler, M. (2016) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/s12110-016-9264-9 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Weathering the Storm: Supernatural Belief and Cooperation in an Insecure World
McNamara, R. A. (2020) · Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture · doi:10.1558/jsrnc.38538 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationMaterial insecurity and religiosity: A causal analysis
Purzycki, B. G., & Bendixen, T. (2024) · Evolutionary Human Sciences · doi:10.1017/ehs.2023.29 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Big Gods: Extended prosociality or group binding?
Galen, L. W. (2016) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x15000436 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Hadley, C., & Hruschka, D. J. (2017) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/s12110-017-9301-3 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Crookes, A. E., & Warren, M. A. (2022) · Discover Psychology · doi:10.1007/s44202-022-00029-3 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Moralistic and local god beliefs and the extent of prosocial preferences on Tanna Island, Vanuatu
Vardy, T., & Atkinson, Q. D. (2022) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2021.2006290 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
White, C., Marin, M., & Fessler, D. M. T. (2022) · Journal of Cognition and Culture · doi:10.1163/15685373-12340135 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Protestant Missionaries Are Associated With Reduced Community Cohesion
Hager, A. (2021) · Sociology of Religion · doi:10.1093/socrel/srab032 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
God punishes, but it depends where and why
Soler, M. (2017) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2017.1302980 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Soul Mates? Conflicts and Complementarities in the Evolutionary and Cognitive Sciences of Religion
Sosis, R. H., Shaver, J. H., Purzycki, B. G., & Kiper, J. (2022) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190693350.013.17 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Moralizing gods, local gods, and complexity in Hindu god concepts: evidence from South India
Placek, C. D., & Lightner, A. D. (2022) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2021.2006282 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Perceptions of moralizing agents and cooperative behavior in Northeastern Brazil
Soler, M., Purzycki, B. G., & Lang, M. (2022) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2021.2006285 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Religion and Its Cultural Evolutionary By-products
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Environmentalism and the Minds of Gods
Baimel, A. (2023) · Bloomsbury Academic eBooks · doi:10.5040/9781350265738.ch-0014 · 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
5. Economic Determinants of Conflict and Fear
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7. Regality Theory Applied to Ancient Cultures
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3. Contributions from Other Theories
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2. The Theory of Regal and Kungic Cultures
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8. Statistical Testing of Regality Theory
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4. Different Kinds of War in Human History
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Tight-Loose Culture: A Compass for Social Norms
Meng</p>, <. (2022) · Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences · doi:10.25236/ajhss.2022.051508
Malle, B., & Robbins, P. (2025) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108894357.026
Dillion, D., Cao, S., Watts, J., Lightner, A. D., & Jackson, J. C. (2026) · Evolution and Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2026.106943
- Authors
- McNamara, R. A., Norenzayan, A., & Henrich, J.
- Affiliations
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Corresponding author
- McNamara, Rita Anne
- Venue
- Religion, Brain & Behavior
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2014-06-18
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 34-55
- ISSN
- 2153-5981 (ISSN-L)
- 2153-599X
- OpenAlex
- W2053932464
- Semantic Scholar
- ea68618672c19b9987d387dd837f7859462c8764
- Cited by
- 77
- References
- 96
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 2
- FWCI
- 39.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Religion Brain & Behavior (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Chicago New Science of Virtues Project. Funded by the Templeton Foundation: University of British Columbia Department of Psychology
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
- Keywords
- supernatural punishment, material insecurity, prosocial behavior, in-group favoritism, secular authority, small-scale societies, religious beliefs
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