Religiosity, Trust and Trustworthiness in Experimental Economics: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Role of Religiosity Dimensions in Explaining Economic Behavior at the Micro Level

Authors

1 Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics, Management and Accounting, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

2 Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Mazandaran, Iran

3 Department of Economics, Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Economics, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

10.22034/jeds.2026.72062.1938

Abstract

Introduction: This study adopts an interdisciplinary approach within the framework of experimental economics to investigate the effects of the four dimensions of religiosity (beliefs, rituals, ethics, and canonical practices) on trust behavior at the micro level, while also examining the overall composite index as a combined measure of these dimensions.
Methodology: Religiosity was measured using a questionnaire based on the four main dimensions (beliefs, rituals, ethics, and canonical practices), and the overall index was calculated as a composite of these dimensions. Trust behavior was measured through a two-stage reciprocal investment game with an anonymous partner on a sample of 104 students from the University of Mazandaran. The data were analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis.
Results: The results showed that religiosity as a composite index has no significant relationship with trust, which is consistent with previous studies. However, when the dimensions were disaggregated, more complex results emerged: "rituals" and "beliefs" showed a negative relationship with trust at the 10% significance level, while "ethics" showed a positive relationship with it. Additionally, individuals with high scores in "canonical practices" were significantly more trustworthy. These findings indicate that different dimensions of religiosity have distinct and sometimes contradictory relationships with economic behavior.
Conclusions: The findings indicate that the lack of a significant relationship between overall religiosity and trust in previous research stems from the contradictory and heterogeneous relationships of its different dimensions. In other words, some dimensions of religiosity (e.g., ethics) increase trust, while others (e.g., beliefs and rituals) decrease it. These contradictions within a composite index cancel each other out, leading to the non-significance of the overall relationship. Therefore, paying attention to the more detailed dimensions of religiosity is essential for understanding its true role in economic behavior.

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References

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