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Religion and trust: an experimental study

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  • Tan, Jonathan H. W.
  • Vogel, Claudia

Abstract

We investigate the relationship between religion and trust. Using a questionnaire, we measure: i) general religiosity, and; ii) the extent of religious beliefs, experience, and ritual. These are then analyzed with behaviour in a trust game (Berg et al., Games and Economic Behaviour, 1995), which we also extend by proving information of a potential trustee's religiosity in certain tasks. We find that trusting increases with the potential trustee's religiosity. The extent to which trusting increases with a trustee's religiosity, in turn, increases with a truster's religiosity. Trustworthiness also increases with religiosity, and at an increasing rate.

Suggested Citation

  • Tan, Jonathan H. W. & Vogel, Claudia, 2005. "Religion and trust: an experimental study," Discussion Papers 240, European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), Department of Business Administration and Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:euvwdp:240
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Religiosity; Trust; Stereotype; Questionnaire; Experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games

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