new school study: belief in god encourages equal valuation of human life, regardless of religious identity

Study involved 500-plus Muslim Palestinian youths living in Gaza and West Bank

Participants responded to moral dilemmas and answered questions designed to measure the value of the lives of Palestinians and Jewish Israelis

Study showed participants more often valued equally the lives of Palestinians and Jewish-Israelis when 'viewing' from Allah's perspective

A new study based on surveys of 555 Palestinian youths shows that people are more likely to value the lives of believers and non-believers of their religion equally when taking God's perspective.

NEW YORK, January 5, 2015—From the Crusades to the Paris terror attacks to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, myriad acts of violence have been carried out in the name of religion.

The relationship between violence and religious belief is the subject of intense popular and scholarly debate: many people argue that the former inevitably arises from the latter.

However, new research led by Jeremy Ginges and Hammad Sheikh from The New School for Social Research shows that, when taking the perspective of God, people are more likely to value the lives of believers and non-believers of their religion equally.

In the study, 555 Palestinian youths, ages 12-18, responded to the classic "trolley dilemma," a hypothetical scenario that involved the sacrifice of a Palestinian man in order to save the lives of five children who are either Jewish Israeli or Palestinian. When taking their own personal perspective, participants valued Palestinian lives more than Jewish-Israeli lives; however, when taking the "perspective" of Allah, participants viewed the lives of both groups more equally. In fact, participants were 30 percent more likely to equally endorse saving both Palestinian and Jewish-Israeli children when "viewing" the situation from Allah’s point of view.

Published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America, the study suggests that a belief in God encourages more equal valuation of human life regardless of religious affiliation.

“The belief that the life of a member of our own group may be more valuable than the life of a member of another group is an important precursor to intergroup violence,” the authors said. “This finding raises the possibility that beliefs about God can mitigate bias against other groups and reduce barriers to peace.”

The study, “Thinking from God’s perspective decreases biased valuation of the life of a nonbeliever,” was funded by The National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research and the Social Sciences Research Council.

Jeremy Ginges is an associate professor of psychology at the New School for Social Research and Hammad Sheikh is a postdoctoral scholar in the university’s Department of Psychology.

Read “Thinking from God’s perspective decreases biased valuation of the life of a nonbeliever.”

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION

PRESS RELEASE

Media Contacts:

Scott Gargan,
The New School
212-229-5667 x 3794
[email protected]