Symposium 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology 2019

Religious Scaffolding of Positive Moral Behavior: Trends among Hindus, Muslims and Christians of Western India (#436)

Rachana Dr. Bhangaokar 1 , Grace Pacheco 1 , Fatema Ghia 1 , Aishwarya Ganesh 1
  1. Human Development and Family Studies, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat, India

This descriptive study used mixed methods to examine the relationship between religion and morality in Hindu, Muslim and Christian participants residing in Pune, Goa and Vadodara in western India. Using the snowball technique, 288 participants – 96 Hindus, 96 Christians and 96 Muslims between 30- 50 years of age, employed and married, belonging to middle and upper middle class, were purposively recruited for the study. The Ethics Values Assessment (EVA, 2016), Community, Autonomy and Divinity Scale (CADS, 2010) and Moral Foundation Questionnaire (MFQ, 2008) were administered to examine the relationship within and between the dimensions of the scales and group differences, if any. Using real life moral events, in depth interviews were also conducted to understand whether and how the ethic of divinity operated across religious groups. Christians, Hindus and Muslims used the ethics of community and divinity in EVA (for self) and divinity in CADS (for others) significantly differently from each other. Religious groups differed significantly in evoking the moral foundation of harm/care. Men used moral foundations of harm/care and purity/degradation more than women. With age, participants used all three ethics significantly more. Participants’ Ethic of Divinity included a humanistic approach that promoted prosocial behavior and social harmony goals.