Publications [#345367] of Ashley L. Harrell King

Papers Published

1. Harrell, A (2012). Do religious cognitions promote prosociality?. Rationality and Society, 24(4), 463-482. [doi]
   (last updated on 2025/06/16)

   Abstract:
   Researchers have long argued that religion increases prosocial behavior, but results are equivocal. Recent findings on priming religious concepts seem to show that religion drives other-regarding behaviors. However, here I suggest that some religious concepts may not only be priming religion, but also anticipated rewards. I present the results of a new experiment that primes reward-related and reward-unrelated religious or secular concepts. Results show that priming reward-related concepts positively impacts prosocial behavior (specifically, generosity), regardless of their religious content. Religious cognitions alone are not sufficient to elicit generosity: reward cognitions must be present as well.