EUGENE, Ore., April 22 (UPI) -- College students who believe in a God seen as mean or punishing are less apt than others to cheat on a test, U.S. and Canadian researchers found.
Psychology researchers Azim F. Shariff at the University of Oregon and Ara Norenzayan at the University of British Columbia said college students who believe in a caring, forgiving God, are more likely to cheat.
The researchers said the study is part of a larger effort to understand the role of religion in encouraging -- or forcing adherence to -- moral behavior.
In one experiment, 61 undergraduate students took a simple "but tedious" math test in which they were given the opportunity to cheat. They were also asked about religiosity and views of God and demographics.
The research found no differences in cheating between self-described believers in God and non-believers, but those who perceived God as punitive, angry and vengeful cheated fewer times.
In a second experiment, 39 undergraduate participants were surveyed on their views of God several days before the math test. Again, students who believed in a loving God were the most likely to cheat, but self-described believers were no more or less likely to cheat than non-believers.
The findings are published in the International Journal for the Psychology of Religion.
