title: Morality and the religious mind: why theists and nontheists differ.
abstract: Religions have come to be intimately tied to morality and much recent research has shown that theists and nontheists differ in their moral behavior and decision making along several dimensions. Here we discuss how these empirical trends can be explained by fundamental differences in group commitment, motivations for prosociality, cognitive styles, and meta-ethics. We conclude by elucidating key areas of moral congruence.
authors.affiliation: University of Oregon, 1227 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA. Electronic address: shariff@uoregon.edu.
authors.forename: Azim F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Shariff
authors.affiliation: University of Pennsylvania, 3720 Walnut Street, Solomon Labs Building, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Jared
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Piazza
authors.affiliation: University of Oregon, 1227 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Kramer
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009014:Morals; D012067:Religion; D012919:Social Behavior
keywords: atheism; morality; prosocial behavior; religion