Is Religion What We Want? Motivation and the Cultural Transmission of Religious Representations
In: Journal of Cognition and CulturePurchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Abstract
Many psychologists and philosophers have suggested that religious ideas emerge because they are motivationally attractive. This paper attempts to support a version of the motivational thesis by relying on religious creeds as a source of historical evidence. This simple source of evidence indicates that the cultural evolution of religious ideas is partly a function of the motivational attractiveness of the religious ideas.