Traditional Supernatural Beliefs and Prosocial Behavior

In most of Africa, traditional supernatural beliefs, including beliefs in witchcraft, black magic, or fetishism, are widespread and have remained so despite the spread of Christianity. The effects of these beliefs remain unclear. Some have hypothesized that these beliefs are beneficial and help to sustain cooperative behavior in a setting where the state is often absent. Others have documented that, inconsistent with this argument, such beliefs are negatively associated with economic and social wellbeing. We contribute to a better understanding of the causal effects of traditional supernatural beliefs by using lab-in-the-field experiments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Participants complete a range of experimental tasks where one player chooses whether to act in a prosocial manner towards another player. Participants are randomly assigned to another player that has either strong or weak traditional supernatural beliefs, and this information is known by the players. We find that participants act less prosocially towards randomly-assigned partners who have stronger traditional beliefs. We find that antisocial behavior is viewed as being more acceptable when it is directed towards those with stronger traditional beliefs. Consistent with both of these effects, we also find that individuals hold a wide range of negative perceptions and stereotypes about those holding strong traditional beliefs.