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Food Abstention, Religious Observance & Prosocial Behavior: Evidence from Ramadan

Food Abstention, Religious Observance & Prosocial Behavior: Evidence from Ramadan
Food Abstention, Religious Observance & Prosocial Behavior: Evidence from Ramadan
Does food intake affect prosocial behavior? Extant knowledge suggests that food intake increases prosocial behavior. But this may not be universally true, especially when religious fasting holidays are concerned. We investigate experimentally the impact of religious fasting in the Islamic holy month of Ramadan on prosocial behavior. Our sample consists of male factory workers in a manufacturing facility in Iran. Each worker is asked to allocate an amount of money between himself and a stranger. Strikingly, the effect of food intake is reversed during the holy month of Ramadan. Workers who are in the midst of their Ramadan fast are far more generous to recipients than workers who have had their evening meal, and more generous than fasting and non-fasting workers outside Ramadan. Interestingly, workers who have had their evening meal during Ramadan are statistically indistinguishable from non-fasting workers outside of Ramadan. Our findings suggest that it is the interaction of food abstention with the ritual of fasting and religious observance that amplifies prosocial behavior.
0966-4246
1507
University of Southampton
Haruvy, Ernan
ce3fb198-1247-4294-95f3-493cc1a2658f
Ioannou, Christos A.
753c2afb-918b-4576-ba47-da42502f37c9
Golshirazi, Farnoush
f80857c7-93fc-4a8b-91a0-1c52b62acfef
Haruvy, Ernan
ce3fb198-1247-4294-95f3-493cc1a2658f
Ioannou, Christos A.
753c2afb-918b-4576-ba47-da42502f37c9
Golshirazi, Farnoush
f80857c7-93fc-4a8b-91a0-1c52b62acfef

Haruvy, Ernan, Ioannou, Christos A. and Golshirazi, Farnoush (2015) Food Abstention, Religious Observance & Prosocial Behavior: Evidence from Ramadan (Discussion Papers in Economics and Econometrics, 1507) University of Southampton 10pp.

Record type: Monograph (Discussion Paper)

Abstract

Does food intake affect prosocial behavior? Extant knowledge suggests that food intake increases prosocial behavior. But this may not be universally true, especially when religious fasting holidays are concerned. We investigate experimentally the impact of religious fasting in the Islamic holy month of Ramadan on prosocial behavior. Our sample consists of male factory workers in a manufacturing facility in Iran. Each worker is asked to allocate an amount of money between himself and a stranger. Strikingly, the effect of food intake is reversed during the holy month of Ramadan. Workers who are in the midst of their Ramadan fast are far more generous to recipients than workers who have had their evening meal, and more generous than fasting and non-fasting workers outside Ramadan. Interestingly, workers who have had their evening meal during Ramadan are statistically indistinguishable from non-fasting workers outside of Ramadan. Our findings suggest that it is the interaction of food abstention with the ritual of fasting and religious observance that amplifies prosocial behavior.

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Published date: 5 September 2015
Organisations: Economics

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 381781
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/381781
ISSN: 0966-4246
PURE UUID: 14f0b975-9988-435b-84be-ecaabf8d4af6

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Date deposited: 09 Oct 2015 11:47
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 21:20

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Contributors

Author: Ernan Haruvy
Author: Christos A. Ioannou
Author: Farnoush Golshirazi

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