Religiosity as a Driving Force of Altruistic Economic Preferences

Abstract

This paper analyzes the influence of selected socioeconomic factors on prosocial economic preferences with special attention to religiosity and religion. We examine whether particular socio-economic characteristics (gender, age, income, regular income, education, religion, and religiosity) have a significant effect on prosocial economic preferences, represented by the willingness to donate to a beggar, the amount of the donation, willingness to donate more to a child beggar, the amount of the donation to a child beggar, and participation in charity events. We run a questionnaire survey, and we test individual effects on a sample of 181 observations using graphical analysis and non-parametric tests. We find that both religiosity and religion significantly influence prosocial economic preferences, but the effects of religiosity are broader. The other significant drivers of prosocial economic preferences include socioeconomic characteristics of participants regular income, and to a lesser extent age and gender.

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“…Similarly, Baldassarri and Abascal (2020) provide empirical evidence on the positive impact of diversity on prosocial behavior, suggesting that diverse groups may exhibit stronger cooperative tendencies. Konarik and Melecky (2022) delve into the influence of religiosity on altruistic economic preferences, proposing that religious beliefs significantly shape economic decision-making towards more altruistic outcomes. Silvestri and Kesting (2021) interrogate the role of institutional economics in understanding the economics of gift-giving, extending economic analysis to include non-reciprocal transfers.…”