title: Big Gods: Extended prosociality or group binding?
abstract: Big Gods are described as having a "prosocial" effect. However, this conflates parochialism (group cohesion) with cooperation extended to strangers or out-group members. An examination of the cited experimental studies indicates that religion is actually associated with increased within-group parochialism, rather than extended or universal prosociality, and that the same general mechanisms underlie both religious and secular effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology,Grand Valley State University,Allendale,MI 49401.galenl@gvsu.eduhttp://gvsu.edu/psychology/luke-galen-110.htm.
authors.forename: Luke W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Galen
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D012067:Religion; D012919:Social Behavior