Skip to main content
Article
Is God Really Watching You? A Response to Shariff and Norenzayan
The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion (2008)
  • Brandon Randolph-Seng, Texas Tech University
  • Michael Nielsen, Georgia Southern University
Abstract
Shariff and Norenzayan (2007) recently reported in the journal Psychological Science that covertly priming participants with “God concepts” increased prosocial behavior regardless of self-reported religiosity. They interpreted their data as supportive of ideomotor and supernatural watcher effects, with implications discussed in the context of religion facilitating the development of cooperative societies. However, methodological choices and theoretical ambiguities call into question these interpretations and implications.
Keywords
  • God concepts
Publication Date
January 1, 2008
Citation Information
Brandon Randolph-Seng and Michael Nielsen. "Is God Really Watching You? A Response to Shariff and Norenzayan" The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 18 (2008): 119-122.
doi:10.1080/10508610701879373
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/michael_nielsen/35