The belief in a god made more coherent and cooperative societies

Human societies from the very old years were more cohesive and people cooperated more with each other, instead of fighting each other, when there was faith in a god who is omniscient, omnipotent and punishes the sinners. This is the conclusion of a new international scientific research, with Greek participation.
Anthropologists and psychologists, headed by Benjamin Πουρζίκι of the Centre for Human Evolution of the canadian University of British Columbia, who made the relevant publication in the journal “Nature”, studied on-site through interviews and experiments (e.x. economic toys) communities in very different places (Brazil, Siberia, Tanzania, Fiji, etc.) and with a lot of different religions (christianity, buddhism, hinduism, animism, etc.).
In the study, which confirmed the so-called “case of the Great Gods”- participated in the Greek origin Dimitris Ξυγαλατάς, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology and director of the Laboratory for Experimental Anthropology, University of Connecticut (USA), and associate professor at the University of Aarhus (Denmark).
The investigation showed that, irrespective of geography and religion, those who believe in moral and τιμωρητικούς gods, it is more likely to behave better and fairer in the face of unknown people, much more if they share the same beliefs about their gods and religious rituals. Among other things, the experiments showed that people are much more willing to give money to strangers if they have the same religion.
According to the researchers, the belief in a god who sees (even in the mind of people) and punishes injustice, favored the evolution of human cooperation, and reduced anti-social behaviour, enhancing, on the contrary, social cohesion and generosity.
“The religious beliefs appears to have been one of the major factors in the development and stabilization of highly complex social institutions, like the state,” mr Πουρζίκι. This message holds true even today, according to anthropologists.