Music as a sacred cue? Effects of religious music on moral behavior

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Authors

LANG Martin MITKIDIS Panagiotis KUNDT Radek NICHOLS Aaron KRAJČÍKOVÁ Lenka XYGALATAS Dimitrios

Year of publication 2016
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Frontiers in Psychology
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Arts

Citation
Web http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00814/full
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00814
Field Philosophy and religion
Keywords religion; music; associative learning; morality; priming
Description Religion can have an important influence in moral decision-making, and religious reminders may deter people from unethical behavior. Previous research indicated that religious contexts may increase prosocial behavior and reduce cheating. However, the perceptual-behavioral link between religious contexts and decision-making lacks thorough scientific understanding. This study adds to the current literature by testing the effects of purely audial religious symbols (instrumental music) on moral behavior across three different sites: Mauritius, the Czech Republic, and the USA. Participants were exposed to one of three kinds of auditory stimuli (religious, secular, or white noise), and subsequently were given a chance to dishonestly report on solved mathematical equations in order to increase their monetary reward. The results showed cross-cultural differences in the effects of religious music on moral behavior, as well as a significant interaction between condition and religiosity across all sites, suggesting that religious participants were more influenced by the auditory religious stimuli than non-religious participants. We propose that religious music can function as a subtle cue associated with moral standards via cultural socialization and ritual participation. Such associative learning can charge music with specific meanings and create sacred cues that influence normative behavior. Our findings provide preliminary support for this view, which we hope further research will investigate more closely.
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