Religion, Altruism, and Prosocial Behavior

Abstract Altruism and religiousness are two important facets of human functioning. This chapter takes a chronological perspective on their development, from philosophical and rhetorically based discourse that discusses the link between these two phenomena to analyzing the definitions, and then offers a review of the empirical research. The chapter is structured in a way that provides readers with an overview of both these phenomena and the associated empirical research independently, and ultimately a symphony of the two. This platform addresses the question, “What empirical evidence exists about the manifestations of these phenomena and the extent to which they are related to one another?” To answer this, we acknowledge the compound, multifaceted nature of both altruism and religion and argue that exercising cross-disciplinary approaches is pertinent for progress to be made. Simultaneously, the chapter concludes that both altruism and religion are powerful enough to have both salutary and noxious effects that make it critical that they be the focus of research efforts. Suggestions for future research are then offered.