In a study covering 67 countries conducted by Azim Shariff at the
University of Oregon and Mike Rhemtulla at the University of Kansas, the
authors compared crime rates to the proportion of citizens who believed in
heaven versus hell. Citizens of
the various countries were asked if they believed in either heaven or hell, and
the researchers subtracted the percentage of heaven-believers by the percentage
of hell-believers; the following remainder represented the country’s “rate of
belief.” Shariff and Rhemtulla
found that a higher rate of belief predicted higher crime rates. Researchers suggested
that the comfort of heaven without the possibility of eternal punishment in
hell compels one to commit further wrongdoings. In Monday’s daily chart, The Economist compiled the data
into a graph to display the connection between the two variables. Countries with low crime rates and low
rates of belief more often than not fell in the Middle Eastern and Asian
regions, while countries in South America tended to possess higher crime rates
and rates of belief.
About TeachingwithData.org
TeachingWithData.org is a partnership between the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN), both at the University of Michigan. The project is funded by NSF Award 0840642, George Alter (ICPSR), PI and William Frey (SSDAN), co-PI.
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