Written by Vanessa Melendez, B.S.

Reference: Rabelo, A. L., & Pilati, R. (2021). Are religious and nonreligious people different in terms of moral judgment and empathy? Psychology of Religion and Spirituality

How does having a religion affect moral judgments? Many consider belief in religion crucial to making good moral choices. Brazilian researchers studied the relationship between religious commitment and moral judgment. Do religious people differ from non-religious people in their moral judgments of social norm violations? 

Researchers had 650 participants (410 atheists or agnostics-non-religious, 170 religious, and 70 other or no religion) complete religiosity, moral judgment, and moral disgust scales. They presented 3 disgusting scenarios where a person committed extreme morally condemnable actions, such as eating human flesh to survive a plane crash, and 3 non-disgusting scenarios from mild to difficult moral wrongs.  Participants rated these on two dimensions: wrongness and level of disgust. 

Results? Both non-religious and religious participants showed similar patterns of moral reactions to the scenarios. All groups agreed on the severities of differing moral scenarios.

In society, we humans may differ on religiosity but react similarly to moral and immoral behaviors. Let’s be less judgmental. People can still have a strong moral code even if they are not a part of your organized religion.  Embrace humanity!