Morality and religion: a study of moral judgments of orthodox Christians and nonbelievers in Russian culture

Morality and religion represent an important part of human social behaviour. This work is focused on studying whether and how characteristics of moral judgments may differ in individuals who believe or do not believe in god, and what role religious experience and religiosity level may play in the formation of moral judgments. We analysed responses of 266 participants of an internet-based study, who categorised themselves either as Orthodox Christians (n=130), or nonbelievers (n=136). The participants were asked to assess moral permissibility of harmful prosocial actions in a set of moral scenarios. It has been shown that in general individuals, both believers and nonbelievers deliver comparable moral judgments. However, the orthodox participants judged less permissible to sacrifice one person to save more people’s lives, i.e. their judgments were less utilitarian. Religiosity level did not correlate with any of the characteristics of moral judgments. The results are discussed in relation to evolutionary functions of morality and religion as well as the role of religion in the formation of individual experience in the sociocultural environment

1. Aleksandrov Yu.I. Psikhofiziologicheskoe znachenie aktivnosti tsentral’nykh iperifericheskikh neironov v povedenii [Psychophysiological effects of central and peripheral neural activity in behavior ]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1989. 208 p. (In Russian).
2. Aleksandrov Yu.I. Ot emotsii к soznaniyu [From emotion to consciousness]. In D.V. Ushakov (ed.), Psikhologiya tvorchestva: Shkola YaA. Ponomareva [Psychology of creativity: YaA. Ponomarev’s school]. Moscow, Institut psihologii RAN Publ., 2006, pp. 5-28 (In Russian).
3. Aleksandrov Yu. I., Aleksandrova N. L. Sub"ektivnyi opyt, kul’tura i sotsial’nye predstavleniya [Subjective experience, culture and social representations]. Moscow, Institut psihologii RAN Publ., 2009. 320 p. (In Russian).
4. Alexandrov Yu. L, Grechenko T.N., Gavrilov V.V., Gorkin A. G., Shevchenko D. G., Grinchenko Yu.V., Aleksandrov I.O., Maksimova N.E., Bezdenezhnych B.N., Bodunov M.V. Formation and realization of individual experience in humans and animals: A psychophysiological approach. In R. Miller, A. M. Ivanitsky, P. M. Balaban (eds.) Conceptual advances in brain research. Vol. 2. Complex brain functions. Conceptual advances in Russian neuroscience. Harwood Academic Publishers, 2000, pp. 181-200.
5. Apresyan R. G. Smysl morali [The meaning of morality]. In O.P. Zubets. (ed.), Moral’: raznoobrazie ponyatii i smyslov: sbomik nauchnykh trudov. К 75-letiyu akademika A. A. Guseinova [Morality: the diversity of concepts and meanings: collection of proceedings. For the 75th anniversary of academician A. A. Guseinov]. Moscow, Al’fa-M Publ., 201, pp. 35-63 (In Russian)
6. Apresyan R. G. Genezis zolotogo pravila [The genesis of the Golden Rule]. Voprosy filosofii [Problems of philosophy (Russia)], 2013, no. 10, pp. 39-49 (In Russian; abstract in English).
7. Arutyunova K. R., Alexandrov Yu. I. Faktory pola i vozrasta v moral’noi otsenke deistvii [Factors of gender and age in moral judgement of actions] Psikhologicheskii zhumal [Psychological Journal (Russia)], 2016, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 79-91 (In Russian; abstract in English).
8. Arutyunova K.R., Alexandrov Yu.I., Znakov V.V., Hauser M.D. Moral judgments in Russian culture: Universality and cultural specificity. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 2013, vol. 13, no. 3-4, pp. 255-285.
9. Arutyunova K.R., Znakov V.V., Aleksandrov Yu.I. Moral’nye suzhdeniya v sovremennom rossiiskom obshchestve: kross-kul’turnyi aspekt [Moral judgments in contemporary Russian society: cross-cultural aspect]. In A. L. Zhuravlev, A.V. Yurevich (eds.), Nravstvennost’ sovremennogo rossiiskogo obshchestva: psikhologicheskii analiz [Morality of contemporary Russian society: psychological analysis[. Moscow, Institut psikhologii RAN Publ, 2012, pp. 255-268 (In Russian).
10. Baneijee К., Huebner В., Hauser М. Intuitive moral judgments are robust across variation in gender, education, politics and religion: A large-scale web-based study. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 2010, vol. 10, pp. 253-281.doi: 10.1163/156853710X531186.
11. Baumard N., Boyer P. Explaining moral religions. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2013, vol. 17, no. 6, pp. 272-280.
12. Benz E. The Eastern Orthodox Church. Its Thought and Life. New York, Doubleday, 1963.
13. Berdyaev N. A. Istoki i smysl russkogo kommunizma [The bases and meaning of Russian communism], Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1990.224 p. (In Russian).
14. Boyer P. Religion Explained. Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought. New York, Basic Books, 2001.403 p.
15. Boyer P. Religion: Bound to Believe? Nature, 2008, vol. 455, pp. 1038-1039.
16. Boyer P. Religious Thought and Behaviour As By-products of Brain Function. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2003, vol. 7, no 3, pp. 119-124.
17. Boyer P., Ramble C. Cognitive templates for religious concepts: cross-cultural evidence for recall of counter-intuitive representations. Cognitive Science, 2001, vol. 25, pp. 535-564.
18. Cushman F., Young L., Hauser M. D. The role of conscious reasoning and intuition in moral judgments: testing three principles of harm. Psychological Science, 2006, vol. 17, pp. 1082-1089.
19. Durkheim E. The Division of Labor in Society. New York, Free Press, 1997.
20. Dvoinin A. M. Psikhologiya veruyushchego: tsennostno-smislovye orientatsii I religioznaya vera lichnosti [The psychology of a believer: Value and meaning orientations,and religious faith of aperson\. St Petersburg, Rech Publ., 2011,224 p. (in Russian, abstract in English)
21. Dwyer S. Moral competence. In K. Murasugi, R. Stainton (eds.) Philosophy and Linguistics. Boulder, CO, Westview Press, 1999, pp. 169-190.
22. Field A. Discovering statistics rising IBM SPSS. London, SAGE Publications Ltd., 2009.821 p.
23. Greene J. D., Sommerville R. B., Nystrom L. E., Darley J. М., Cohen J. D. An fMRI investigation of emotional engagement in moral judgment. Science, 2001, vol. 293, pp. 2105-2108.
24. Greene J. D., Nystrom L. E., Engell A. D., Darley J. М., Cohen J. D. The neural bases of cognitive conflict and control in moral judgment. Neuron, 2004, vol. 44, pp. 389-400.
25. Greene J. D. Beyond point-and-shoot morality: Why cognitive (neuro)science matters for ethics. Ethics, 2014, vol. 124, no. 4, pp. 695-726.
26. Gromyko М. М. О vozzreniyakh russkogo naroda [On the vision of Russian people]. Moscow, Palomnik publ., 2000.543 p. (In Russian).
27. Guseinov A. A. Nravstvennost’ v svete negativnoi etiki [Morality in light of negative ethics]. In O.P. Zubets. (ed.), Moral’: raznoobrazie ponyatii i smyslov: sbomik nauchnykh trudov. К 75-letiyu akademika A. A. Guseinova [Morality: the diversity of concepts and meanings: collection of proceedings. For the 75th anniversary of academician A. A. Guseinov]. Moscow, Al’fa-M Publ., 2014, pp. 13-34 (In Russian).
28. Haidt J. The emotional dog and its rational tail: a social intuitionist approach to moral judgment. Psychological Review, 2001, vol. 108, pp. 814-834.
29. Haidt J. The new synthesis in moral psychology. Science, 2007, vol. 316, pp. 998-1002.
30. Hauser M. D. Moral minds. How nature designed our universal sense of right and wrong. New York, Ecco (Harper Collins), 2006.512 p.
31. Hauser M.D., Cushman F., Young L., Jin R.K.-X., Mikhail J. A dissociation between moral judgments and justifications. Mind and Language, 2007, vol. 22, pp. 1-21.
32. Hauser M. D., Tonnaer F., Cima M. When moral intuitions are immune to the law: a casestudy of euthanasia and the act-omission distinction in the Netherlands. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 2009, vol. 9, pp. 149-169.
33. Hinde R. A. Why Gods Persist: A Scientific Approach to Religion. London and New York, Routledge, 1999.288 p.
34. Huebner B., Lee J.J., Hauser M. D. The moral-conventional distinction in mature moral competence. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 2010, vol. 10, pp. 1-26. doi:10.1163/156853710X497149
35. Kornilova Т. V., Chigrinova I. A. Stadii individual’noi morali i prinyatie neopredelennosti v regulyatsii lichnostnykh vyborov [Stages of individual morality and acceptance of ambiguity in regulation of personal choices], Psikhologicheskii Zhumal [PsychologicalJournal (Russia)], 2012, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 69-87 (In Russian; abstract in English).
36. Krebs D. L., Van Hesteren E The development of altruism: Toward an integrative model. Developmental Review, 1994, vol. 14, pp. 1-56.
37. Lossky N. O. Kharakter russkogo naroda. Kniga pervaya. [The Character of the Russian people. Book one], Frankfurt, Posev Publ., 1957.151 p. (In Russian)
38. Maclver R. М., Page C. Society: An Introductory Analysis. Macmillan Co., 1961.
39. Merton R. K. Social theory and social structure. Glencoe IL, Free Press, 1957.
40. Mikhail J. Universal Moral Grammar: Theory, evidence and the future. Trends in Cognitive Science, 2007, vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 143-152.
41. Mikhail J. Elements of Moral Cognition: Rawls’ Linguistic Analogy and the Cognitive Science of Moral and Legalfudgment. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2011.432 p.
42. Paxton J. М., Greene J.D. Moral reasoning: Hints and allegations. Topics in Cognitive Science, 2010, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 511-527.
43. Paxton J. М., Ungar L., Greene J. D. Reflection and Reasoning in Moral Judgment. Cognitive Science, 2012, vol. 36, no. l,pp. 163-177. doi: 10.111 l/j.1551-6709.2011.01210.x
44. Pirogov N. I. Voprosy zhizni. Dnetmik starogo vracha. [The issues of life. A diary of an old doctor]. Ivanovo, IPK PresSto Publ., 1880/2009.427 p. (In Russian).
45. Pyysiainen I., Hauser M. The origins of religion: Evolved adaptation or by-product? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2010, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 104-109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2009.12.007
46. Rancour-Laferriere D. The Slave Soul of Russia: Moral Masochism and the Cult of Suffering. New York, New York University Press, 1995.330 p.
47. Rawls J. A theory of justice. Cambridge MA, Harvard University Press, 1971.560 p.
48. Rossano M. J. Supernaturalizing social life: Religion and the evolution of human cooperation. Human Nature, 2007, vol. 18, pp. 272-294.
49. Rossano M.J. The Moral Faculty: Does Religion Promote “Moral Expertise”? InternationalJournal for the Psychology of Religion, 2008, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 169-194.
50. Rozanov V.V. Religiya. Filosofiya. Kul’tura [Religion. Philosophy. Culture1. M. Respublika Publ., 1905/1992.400 p. (In Russian).
51. Shenhav A., Rand D. G., Greene J. D. Divine Intuition: Cognitive Style Influences Belief in God .Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2012, vol. 141, no. 3, pp. 423-428. doi: 10.1037/a0025391
52. Shvyrkov V.B. Vvedenie v ob’ektivnuyu psikhologiyu: neironal’nye osnovy psikhiki [Introduction into objective psychology: neuronal bases of mind]. Moscow, IP RAN Publ., 1995.162 p. (In Russian).
53. Skripnik A. P. Chto takoe nravstvennost' [What morality is]. In O. P. Zubets. (ed.), Moral’: raznoobrazie ponyatii i smyslov: sbomik nauchnykh trudov. К 75-letiyu akademika A. A. Guseinova [Morality: the diversity of concepts and meanings: collection of proceedings. For the 75л anniversary of academician A. A. Guseinov]. Moscow, Al’fa-M Publ., 2014, pp. 144-173 (In Russian).
54. Suter R.S., Hertwig R. Time and moral judgment. Cognition, 2011, vol. 119, no. 3, pp. 454-458. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2011.01.018
55. Trubetskoi N. S. Izbrannoe [Selected works], Moscow, ROSSPEN Publ., 2010. 616 p. (In Russian).
56. Vasil’ev M. A. Yazychestvo vostochnykh slavyan nakanune kreshcheniya Rusi [The paganism of the Eastern Slavs before the Christening of Russia]. Moscow, Indrik Publ., 1999.328 p. (In Russian).
57. Volovikova М. I. Predstavleniya russkikh о nravstvennom ideale [The representation of moral perfection in Russia], Moscow, Institut psikhologii RAN Publ., 2005.332 p. (In Russian).
58. Vygotskii L.S. Pedagogicheskayapsikhologiya [Pedagogicalpsychology], V.V. Davydov (ed.). Moscow, AST: Astrel’: Lyuks Publ., 2005.671 p. (In Russian).
59. de Waal F. Good natured. The origins of right and wrong in humans and other animals. Cambridge MA, Harvard University Press, 1996.368 p.
60. Weber M. The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism (T. Parsons and A. Giddens, Trans.) London UK, Unwin Hyman, 1930.
61. Zuckerman P. Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns. In M. Martin (ed.) Cambridge Companion to Atheism. Cambridge, England: University of Cambridge Press, 2007, pp. 47-68.