Religious song as a facilitator of prosocial behavior

Abstract

Religion plays an important role in human life. In a recent review, religiosity has been associated with prosocial behavior; although consistent, the association was weak (Saroglou, 2013). To understand religious prosociality, varying theoretical contentions were offered (Preston, Salomon, & Ritter, 2013). The present study tested Supernatural Monitoring Hypothesis and sought to identify the role of the thought of a watching God in a religious individual’s prosocial behavior. With this aim, an experiment was conducted with two groups of participants wherein the experimental group was primed with the thought of a watching God through a song translation. Results of independent samples t-test showed that religious participants who were primed offered more time for a volunteer work compared to those who were not primed. Implications of this study point to the role of the thought of a watching God in prosocial behavior.