Why are world religions so concerned with sexual behavior?

Moon, Jordan W.

doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.07.030

Cited by 21 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Mate-guarding surely partly underlies many sexual restrictions, and is consistent with the frequent double-standard favoring men in the moralization of sexual promiscuity (Broude & Greene, 1976;Dabhoiwala, 2012;Mernissi, 2011). Consistent with the Reproductive Religiosity Model, individuals with a monogamous reproductive strategy more harshly oppose sexual promiscuity (Weeden & Kurzban, 2016) and its facilitators (e.g., drugs; Kurzban et al, 2010;Quintelier et al, 2013), and seem to use religion to facilitate and encourage monogamous pair-bonding (Baumard & Chevallier, 2015;Hone et al, 2020;Jacquet et al, 2021;Moon, 2021;Moon et al, 2019;Weeden et al, 2008;. However, these accounts fail to sufficiently explain the more general condemnation of hedonic excesses (e.g., gluttony, drinking), intemperance, and lack of self-discipline beyond sexuality -promiscuous impulses are only one of the many short-term-oriented tendencies that puritanical morality condemns.…”

Section: Conflicts Of Reproductive Interestsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Moral disciplining: the cognitive and evolutionary foundations of puritanical morality

Fitouchi¹,

André²,

Baumard³

2021

Preprint

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Why do many human societies condemn apparently harmless and pleasurable behaviors, such as lust, gluttony, drinking, drugs, gambling, or even music and dance? Why do they erect temperance, hedonic restraint, sobriety, decency and piety as cardinal moral virtues? While existing accounts consider this puritanical morality as an exception to the cooperative function of moral intuitions, we propose that it stems, like other moral concerns, from moral intuitions targeting cooperative challenges. Specifically, we argue that it emerges in response to a key feature of cooperation, namely that the latter is (ultimately) a long-term strategy, requiring (proximately) the self-control of appetites for immediate gratification. Puritanical moralizations condemn and praise behaviors which, although not intrinsically cooperative or uncooperative, are perceived as affecting people’s propensity to cooperate, by modifying their ability to resist short-term impulses conflicting with cooperative motivations. Drinking, drugs, unruly feasts, dances, and immodest clothing are condemned as stimulating people’s short-term impulses, thus facilitating uncooperative behaviors (e.g. adultery, violence, economic free-riding). Immoderate indulgence in harmless bodily pleasures (e.g. lust, masturbation, gluttony) is perceived as addictively reinforcing short-term impulses, thus making harder the self-control of future temptations to cheat. Moralizations of ascetic temperance, daily self-discipline, and pious ritual observance are perceived as nurturing the self-restraint consubstantial to a cooperative character, able to resist selfish temptations when the latter arise. We review psychological, historical, and ethnographic evidence supporting this account, and discuss its implications regarding the cross-cultural variations and cultural evolution of puritanical norms.

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Section: Conflicts Of Reproductive Interestsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Moral disciplining: the cognitive and evolutionary foundations of puritanical morality

Fitouchi¹,

André²,

Baumard³

2021

Preprint

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“…Our hypothesis stems from a rational choice perspective on religion [9], suggesting that engagement in religious behaviours and beliefs might stem partly from the reproductive benefits people acquire from them [9,16,18]. Because religions often involve costly behaviour [69,70], one should expect religious engagement to be more likely when the benefits outweigh the costs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is indeed evidence that religious norms and practices can affect several life-history trade-offs [18]. All organisms must choose how to allocate energy into growth, somatic maintenance and reproduction—taken holistically, there is a fitness trade-off between future and current reproduction [19].…”

Section: Men Are Less Religious In More Gender-equal Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Men are less religious in more gender-equal countries

2022

Self Cite

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Sex differences in religiosity are cross-culturally common and robust, yet it is unclear why sex differences in some cultures are larger than in others. Although women are more religious than men in most countries, religions frequently provide asymmetrical benefits to men at the expense of women. Two global analyses (51 countries and 74 countries) found that country-level gender equality was consistently and negatively associated with religiousness (i.e. religious attendance, reported importance of God and frequency of prayer) for men, more than for women, leading to a larger sex difference in religiousness in more gender-equal countries. Results were especially robust for religious attendance, and hold accounting for country-level wealth, as well as individuals' religious affiliation, the moralization of sexuality, age and education level. We interpret results through a rational choice lens, which assumes that people are more drawn to religion when it is consistent with their reproductive goals.

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“…Where do prosocial supernatural punishment beliefs come from? Building on research stressing how individuals' motivations shape cultural traits [18][19][20][21][22][23], we argue that a key factor in the evolution of prosocial supernatural beliefs is the production and promotion of supernatural narratives that appear effective for motivating others' cooperation. For example, by promoting beliefs that "failure to share brings deadly illness", or that "adultery is punished by God", people may (not necessarily consciously) attempt to deter others' selfishness (Figure 1).…”

Section: The Producer Side: Supernatural Punishment Beliefs As Tools Of Social Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Supernatural punishment beliefs as cognitively compelling tools of social control

Fitouchi

Singh

2022

Current Opinion in Psychology

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Why do humans develop beliefs in supernatural entities that punish uncooperative behaviors? Leading hypotheses maintain that these beliefs are widespread because they facilitate cooperation, allowing their groups to outcompete others in inter-group competition. Focusing on within-group interactions, we present a model in which people strategically endorse supernatural punishment beliefs to manipulate others into cooperating. Others accept these beliefs, meanwhile, because they are made compelling by various cognitive biases: They appear to provide information about why misfortune occurs; they appeal to intuitions about immanent justice; they contain threatening information; and they allow believers to signal their trustworthiness. Explaining supernatural beliefs requires considering both motivations to invest in their endorsement and the reasons others adopt them.

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Why are world religions so concerned with sexual behavior?

Cited by 21 publications

References 44 publications

Moral disciplining: the cognitive and evolutionary foundations of puritanical morality

Moral disciplining: the cognitive and evolutionary foundations of puritanical morality

Men are less religious in more gender-equal countries

Supernatural punishment beliefs as cognitively compelling tools of social control

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