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.

Center for Advanced Hindsight Social Science Research Institute Duke University Durham NC USA

Center for Advanced Hindsight Social Science Research Institute Duke UniversityDurham NC USA; Interacting Minds Centre Department of Culture and Society Aarhus UniversityAarhus Denmark; Interdisciplinary Centre for Organizational Architecture Department of Management Aarhus UniversityAarhus Denmark

Department of Anthropology University of ConnecticutStorrs CT USA; LEVYNA Laboratory for the Experimental Research of Religion Department for the Study of Religions Masaryk UniversityBrno Czech Republic

Department of Anthropology University of ConnecticutStorrs CT USA; LEVYNA Laboratory for the Experimental Research of Religion Department for the Study of Religions Masaryk UniversityBrno Czech Republic; Interacting Minds Centre Department of Culture and Society Aarhus UniversityAarhus Denmark

Department of Psychology Faculty of Arts Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic

LEVYNA Laboratory for the Experimental Research of Religion Department for the Study of Religions Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic

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