The role of religiosity on seeking help

Abstract

Previous research shows that religiosity increases prosocial tendencies such as donating and volunteering. Less is known on whether and how religiosity influences individuals' decision to seek help when needed. The current research tackles this question and shows that religiosity, whether manipulated (Study 2) and measured (Study 1 and Study 3), decreases individuals' tendency to seek help from other people or entities. We further propose that religiosity enhances individuals' sense of control, which makes them rely more on themselves and less likely to seek help when encountering difficulties. Three studies across different contexts (i.e., applying government aid, asking for help from other people, and requesting donations from a crowdfunding platform) support our thesis. Utilizing data from the General Social Survey (Study 1), we first demonstrate that individual‐level religiosity is negatively correlated with the behavior of getting help (i.e., receiving government aid such as welfare and unemployment insurance). Next, we prime religion (vs. control) in Study 2 and show that religious prime decreases people's willingness to seek help. Finally, Study 3 shows that chronic religiosity discourages people from seeking financial assistance on crowdfunding platforms such as Indiegogo. Furthermore, this negative effect is mediated by sense of control. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and practical contributions of this research as well as its limitations and future research directions.