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The prosocial benefits of seeing purpose in life events: A case of cultural selection in action?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2016

Konika Banerjee
Konika Banerjee*
Affiliation:
Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511. konika.banerjee@yale.edu http://psychology.yale.edu/people/konika-banerjee
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Abstract

Norenzayan et al. propose that religious beliefs with incidental prosocial effects propagated via a long-term process of cultural evolution. Applying their model, I explore a possible candidate target of cultural selection: the teleological view – often culturally elaborated as a belief in karma or fate – that life events occur to punish or reward individuals’ moral behavior.

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Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 39 , 2016 , e3
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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References

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