How Environment Shapes Our Gods
Why your ancestors' surroundings might determine what you believe today.
Explore the ResearchHave you ever wondered why the gods of some cultures are all-knowing moral judges, while in other traditions, spirits are woven into the fabric of the local forest or river? For centuries, these differences were explained by theology or history alone. But a groundbreaking new scientific approach is revealing a surprising factor: ecology.
Welcome to the ecology of religious beliefs, an emerging field that investigates how environmental forces—from climate stability to resource scarcity—have shaped the global distribution of religious traditions. This research is uncovering the profound and often unexpected ways that our physical world has influenced the spiritual one.
Environmental factors like climate stability and resource availability have systematically shaped religious beliefs across human societies, with some patterns predictable with over 90% accuracy.
If you look at a map of religious beliefs worldwide, a striking pattern emerges. Societies that believe in moralizing high gods—defined by researchers as "supernatural beings believed to have created or govern all reality, intervene in human affairs, and enforce or support human morality"—aren't randomly scattered across the globe 2 .
Instead, their distribution follows predictable environmental boundaries. As Colorado State University Professor Michael Gavin noted, "You can see a line where the forests of Central Africa shift into the Sahara and religious beliefs change" . This observation sparked a fundamental question: Could environmental factors be shaping what we believe?
Interactive Map Visualization
(Hover to explore regional patterns)
Hypothetical visualization of moralizing high god distribution based on environmental factors
In a comprehensive study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an international team of researchers created a model that could predict with over 91% accuracy whether a society would believe in moralizing high gods 2 . This astonishing precision came from analyzing how religious beliefs are influenced by a complex mixture of social, cultural, and environmental factors .
The research team employed innovative methods adapted from biogeography and evolutionary biology to analyze a global cross-cultural sample of 583 human societies 2 . Their approach was uniquely interdisciplinary, combining:
Rainfall patterns, temperature stability, and primary productivity
Political complexity and subsistence practices
Language history and spatial proximity between groups
The researchers used principal components analysis to reduce numerous environmental variables into two key indicators: resource abundance (a combination of rainfall, primary productivity, and biodiversity) and climate stability (predictable annual cycles of precipitation and temperature) 2 .
| Factor Category | Specific Variables Measured | Relationship to Religious Belief |
|---|---|---|
| Resource Abundance | Annual rainfall, net primary production, biodiversity | Societies in poorer environments more prone to believe in moralizing gods |
| Climate Stability | Temperature predictability, precipitation patterns | Greater stability associated with different god concepts |
| Environmental Harshness | Overall ecological duress | Predicts belief in moralizing high gods |
| Political Complexity | Social stratification, governance structures | More complex societies more likely to believe in moralizing gods |
After simultaneously accounting for potential non-independence among societies due to shared ancestry and cultural diffusion, the researchers found that beliefs in moralizing high gods are more prevalent among societies that inhabit poorer environments and are more prone to ecological duress 2 .
Additionally, these beliefs are more likely in politically complex societies that recognize rights to movable property. The emerging picture is neither one of pure cultural transmission nor of simple ecological determinism, but rather a complex mixture of social, cultural, and environmental influences 2 .
"What we find is that belief in moralizing high gods seems to be shaped not just by cultural transmission or by some simple ecological factors, but rather by a complex mixture of social, cultural and environmental influences."
To understand how environmental factors could shape religious beliefs, we need to examine the cognitive foundations of religion. Research in evolutionary psychology suggests that religious thought is an evolutionary byproduct of multiple mental modules that arose independently for different functions 8 .
| Cognitive Mechanism | Function | Role in Religious Belief |
|---|---|---|
| Theory of Mind | Attributing mental states to others | Enables conception of supernatural beings with thoughts and intentions |
| Hyperactive Agency Detection | Identifying potential agents in the environment | Leads to interpreting natural events as actions of supernatural agents |
| Essentialism | Understanding objects in terms of underlying essences | Gives rise to concepts of purity, souls, and sacredness |
| Minimally Counterintuitive Concepts | Remembering ideas that violate some ontological expectations | Makes religious concepts memorable and easily transmitted |
These cognitive tools don't automatically generate specific religious beliefs but provide the building blocks that environmental and social factors can shape into particular religious traditions. As the cognitive ecology of religion suggests, "religious beliefs are thought to frequently involve solutions, insofar as evolved cognitive equipment can build them, to social and natural environmental problems faced by a given population" 8 .
Religious beliefs emerge as byproducts of cognitive mechanisms that evolved for other purposes, such as detecting predators or understanding social relationships.
Environmental pressures shape how these cognitive building blocks are assembled into religious systems that address specific ecological challenges.
Religious beliefs appear to have provided adaptive solutions to various ecological challenges throughout human history:
In large, complex societies where anonymous interactions make cooperation difficult, beliefs in moralizing, omniscient gods effectively outsource punishment costs to a pervasive social monitor 8 . Cross-culturally, the prevalence of omniscient, moralistic gods is positively correlated with society size and complexity 8 .
In small-scale societies, gods are often concerned with resource management and preventing material insecurity 8 . For example, the Australian Martu people's religious beliefs lead to burning practices that increase local biodiversity, while the Tyva people of southern Siberia use ritual structures to demarcate sacred spaces that function as sustainable grazing areas 8 .
Localized spirits and ancestor worship regulate resource use and maintain ecological knowledge through ritual practices and taboos.
Regional deities emerge to facilitate cooperation between different groups and manage shared resources across larger territories.
Moralizing high gods provide supernatural monitoring and punishment that enables cooperation in large, anonymous populations.
The relationship between religion and ecology isn't just an academic curiosity—it has practical implications for contemporary environmental challenges.
A recent study led by Arizona State University found that nearly 90% of American religious leaders believe in human-caused climate change to some degree, with 60% believing humans play a major role 1 . Despite these beliefs, half of the surveyed leaders never discussed climate change in their sermons, creating a significant "belief-action gap" 1 .
When researchers shared information about this consensus with congregants, they became more likely to believe their religious leader supported climate action and that taking action aligned with their church's values 1 . This demonstrates the powerful influence religious leaders could have in environmental advocacy.
Believe in human-caused climate change
Believe humans play a major role
Never discuss it in sermons
Different religious traditions are engaging with environmental issues in distinct ways:
| Religious Tradition | Theological Basis for Environmentalism | Percentage Believing Faith Requires Environmental Care | Key Behavioral Findings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hinduism | Interconnectedness of all existence; sacred nature of all beings | Not specified in study | Highest rates of environmental action: 64% in rewilding, 78% changing consumer habits |
| Islam | Stewardship duty from God; compassion for future generations | 92% | Strong sense of obligation but implementation gaps due to lack of awareness |
| Christianity | Biblical call to tend the Garden of Eden; stewardship concept | 82% | Lowest levels of conservation action; 31% deny climate breakdown |
British Hindus lead in environmental action, with 64% participating in rewilding and 78% actively changing consumer habits, reflecting Hinduism's emphasis on the interconnectedness of all existence 9 .
92% of British Muslims believe their faith requires environmental stewardship, seeing it as a duty given by God 9 .
While 82% of British Christians believe their faith requires environmental care, they report the lowest levels of conservation action, partly due to beliefs about divine restoration of the Earth 9 .
The ecology of religious beliefs offers a powerful new lens for understanding one of humanity's most distinctive traits—our capacity for religious experience. Rather than replacing theological explanations, this approach complements them by revealing how our physical environment has shaped the development and distribution of religious traditions across the globe.
As Professor Gavin notes, the methods developed in this field provide "a methodological blueprint" for understanding human diversity more broadly . In an era of rapid environmental change, understanding how ecology shapes culture may prove essential for navigating our future—both spiritual and physical.
The next time you ponder the vast diversity of the world's religious traditions, consider that the beliefs your community holds might bear the subtle imprint of your ancestors' relationship with their land, their climate, and their struggle for survival in a challenging world.