A study of religiosity and donations: Does religion make its believers more prosocial?

Last registered on February 07, 2020
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
A study of religiosity and donations: Does religion make its believers more prosocial?
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0005016
Initial registration date
February 02, 2020

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
February 07, 2020, 3:48 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
India
Region
NEW YORK

Primary Investigator

Name
Tereza Petrovicova
Affiliation
New York University Abu Dhabi
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
rebecca morton
PI Affiliation
New York University
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2020-02-04
End date
2020-04-10
Keywords
Other
Additional Keywords
religion, behavior
JEL code(s)
D64, Z12
Secondary IDs
Abstract
The proposed experiment will be conducted with 550 Muslim subjects in India. Data for this experiment will be collected online using Qualtrics. The experiment will measure the effects of different religious primes on the donation behavior of Muslim subjects.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
morton, rebecca and Tereza Petrovicova. 2020. "A study of religiosity and donations: Does religion make its believers more prosocial?." AEA RCT Registry. February 07. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.5016-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2020-02-04
Intervention End Date
2020-04-10

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The religiosity of participants and their donations.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Religiosity will be measured using three dimensions: spirituality, religious education and practice, and stance public Islamic issues and the five pillars of Islam.
Donations will be measured based on the percentage donated to charity.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experiment will first measure the religiosity of participants and then allow the participants to earn money through several tasks. Then, the participants will be given the option to donate a percentage of their experimental earnings that they donate to charity. In the treatment groups, subjects will be primed with religious quotes before being given the option to donate.
Experimental Design Details
The experiment will be composed of five stages. In the first stage, participants will be asked to fill in a questionnaire measuring baseline information and their religiosity. In the second stage, participants will be able to earn some money with simple real effort tasks. In the third stage, participants will have the option to donate their money to either of two charities, one of which being Muslim and the other not having a religious affiliation. In the fourth stage, participants will again earn some money playing the real effort task. In the last stage, participants will again be given the option to donate a percentage of their earnings from stage 4. However, this time their donations would be split equally between the two charities.

In the treatment groups, subjects will be primed with .....
Randomization Method
Randomization done by a computer.
Randomization Unit
This experiment will have individual randomization.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
This experiment will have 550 clusters.
Sample size: planned number of observations
This experiment will have 550 observations.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
The sample size is 550 individuals.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
New York University Abu Dhabi
IRB Approval Date
2019-07-31
IRB Approval Number
059-2019
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials