A Behavioral model to examine religiosity & generosity

The relation between religiosity and generosity is a well explored topic in the literature, however almost no existing study systematically examines the behavioral route through which religiosity influences generosity. This paper proposes a model to systematically study the inter relation between religiosity of the donor and her generosity and hence attempts to fill an important gap in the existing literature pertinent to the religious studies. The behavioral model incorporates religiosity of the donor measured by frequency of prayers in her utility function and predicts a positive relation between religiosity and generosity. The predictions of the model are tested by applying tobit maximum likelihood regressions on real donations data acquired from two controlled lab experiments performed in the United States (Christian majority country; observations = 165) and Pakistan (Muslim majority country; observations = 75). The data from both lab experiments supports the predictions of the behavioral model; ceteris paribus, subjects in the United States who regularly attend religious service donate $0.76 more compared to non-regular attenders, while subjects in Pakistan offering on average four (five) daily prayers donate 31.26 (57.14) rupees more than subjects offering only one prayer a day. The paper extends our understanding by identifying a possible route through which religiosity can influence generosity. Such an understanding can be very useful when designing a mechanism to solicit donations from the religious people.