Thinking from God’s perspective decreases biased valuation of the life of a nonbeliever
Abstract
Religious belief is often seen as a key cause of human conflict because it is said to promote preferential treatment of adherents and to harden group boundaries. Here, we examined a critical aspect of this link in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, a multigenerational violent conflict with significant religious aspects. We find that although Muslim Palestinian participants valued Palestinian over Jewish Israeli lives when making difficult moral choices, they believed that Allah preferred them to make moral decisions that valued the lives of Palestinians and Jewish Israelis more equally. Beliefs about God may promote more equal valuation of human life regardless of religious identity, encouraging application of universal moral rules to believers and nonbelievers alike.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Dec 28, 2015
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.1512120113
Entities
People
- Hammad Sheikh
- Jeremy Ginges
- Nichole Argo
- Scott Atran
Organizations
- ARTIS International
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Institut Jean Nicod
- John Jay College of Criminal Justice
- National Science Foundation
- Office of Naval Research
- The New School for Social Research
- University of Michigan
- University of Oxford