Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, are suggesting that the results from a series of three experiments they conducted show that the link between compassion and generosity is stronger in those who are non religious or less religious than it is in highly religious people
The study defined compassion as “an emotion felt when people see the suffering of others which then motivates them to help, often at personal risk.
“Overall, we find that for less religious people, the strength of their emotional connection to another person is critical to whether they will help that person or not,” said UC Berkeley social psychologist Robb Willer, a co-author of the study. “The more religious, on the other hand, may ground their generosity less in emotion, and more in other factors such as doctrine, a communal identity, or reputational concerns.”
Read: Highly religious people are less motivated by compassion than are non-believer
