title: Coerced coordination, not cooperation.
abstract: Norenzayan et al. propose that Big God (BG) religions are large-group cooperative enterprises that promote internal harmony and higher fertility, resulting in "mutually beneficial exchanges" for those involved. We examine the possible distributions of costs and benefits within BG religions and propose that they are, instead, successful coordinating mechanisms that rely on intragroup competition and exploitation between the classes and sexes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology,Montclair State University,Montclair,NJ 07043solerm@mail.montclair.eduhttps://sites.google.com/site/montserratsoleranthro/
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soler
authors.affiliation: Arizona State University,Tempe,AZ 85287-1104.lenfesty@asu.eduhttps://asu.academia.edu/HillaryLenfesty.
authors.forename: Hillary L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Lenfesty
mesh_terms: D003068:Coercion; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations