Do religious beliefs influence concerns for animal welfare? the role of religious orientation and ethical ideologies in attitudes toward animal protection amongst Muslim teachers and school staff in East Java, Indonesia

Abstract

There is ample research supporting White’s (1967) thesis, which postulates that religion and religious belief inhibit ecological concerns. This study thus seeks to explore the relationship between individuals’ acceptability for harming animals as one representation of ecological concern (measured using Animal Issue scale (AIS)) and their religious belief (measured using Religious Orientation Scale (ROS)) and ethical ideology (measured using Ethical Position Questionnaire (EPQ)). The study surveyed 929 Muslim teachers and school staff in East Java, Indonesia. We found that ROS correlates with EPQ whereby intrinsic personal (IP) relates with idealism while extrinsic social religious orientation (ES)—where religion is perceived as an instrument for social gain, membership and support—relates with relativism. However, using multiple regression analysis to examine both EPQ and ROS relation to acceptability for harming animals suggests mixed results. We found that, idealism and IP relate to a lower acceptability for harming animals, while relativism and ES correlate to a higher acceptability for harming animals. In another model where we calculate all the main variables with all the demographical and other determinants, we found that only ROS consistently relates to acceptability for harming animals. Additionally, we identify, explain and discuss significant demographic determinants along with this study’s limitations.

Increased perception of the experience dimension of the animal mind reduces instrumental violence against animals

“…Individual factors related to our relationship with animals could be classified into two broad categories: relatively stable dispositions or factors more susceptible to change. Relatively stable dispositions include factors negatively related to violence against animals, such as empathy [27,[36][37][38][39], moral idealism [40,41], the moral foundation of care [4,12], values such as universalism [42], as well as positively related factors: dark triad traits [43][44][45], moral relativism [40,41], the moral foundation of authority [4,12], social dominance orientation [46], and values such as tradition, obedience, and security [42,47,48].…”

The role of religious narratives and religious orientation towards concerns for the natural environment and animal welfare

“…Gallagher & Tierney [ 38 ] argue that religiosity and religiousness are interchangeable as far an individual’s conviction, devotion and veneration towards a divinity is concerned. As the continuation of Pasaribu, Takwin and Martens’ research [ 39 ], this study also chooses Allport’s religious orientation of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in practicing religious belief. Religious orientation consists of three components.…”

“…This study is the continuation of Pasaribu, Martens and Takwin [ 39 ], to further examine religious orientation roles toward acceptability for harming animals and concerns for the natural environment by adding religious narratives as the representation of various dogmatic teachings [ 26 , 30 ]. Pasaribu, Martens, and Takwin [ 39 ] argue that extrinsic social religious orientation closely relates to social identity from Tajfel’s theory of social identity in ways that religious group offers a sense of group positioning within which individuals identify themselves vis-à-vis religious outgroups [ 45 , 46 ]. For religious orientation, the present study focuses the attention to ES, to investigate whether it has diminishing or increasing role when considering one other variable that is religious narrative.…”

“…As the continuation of Pasaribu, Martens and Takwin [ 39 ], this study uses the same sample, purposefully selected from the population in East Java province. Other than considering that it represents the oldest, most influential Islamic organizations (e.g., Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah), the province of East Java is also one of the provinces with the most diverse Islamic denomination.…”

“…Lastly, extrinsic social (ES) orientation in which people perceive social advantages by having a sense of membership from a religious group such as, protection, consolation or social status [40][41][42][43][44]. In examining the relation between animal protection issue with ethical ideologies and religious orientation, Pasaribu, Martens & Takwin [39] find that participants with higher score of IP are more likely to have lower acceptability for harming animals. However, they also find that participants with higher score of ES tend to also score higher acceptability for harming animals.…”