| Sumario: | We hypothesize that there are two mechanisms by which religion can affect prosocial behaviors. Being reminded about religion can induce prosocial behaviors through an external, triggering effect. The underlying beliefs can have an effect through internal mechanisms. To untangle these competing effects, a lab‐in‐the‐field experiment was conducted in West Africa in which we asked people participating in a survey if they would like to donate their participation fee to a local charity. We randomly assigned respondents a question asking about belief in heaven and hell. We also vary the donation price to test whether there are limits on the prosocial behaviors. We find that the trigger has no effect on the decision to donate, but that belief in heaven/hell has a positive, large, statistically significant effect on the likelihood of donations. Religious belief does encourage prosocial behavior but those effects dissipate as the opportunity cost of giving increases.
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