A major new cross-disciplinary research found strong evidence that human cultures in poorer environments are more likely to believe in moralising, high gods.
The study explores the evolution of human cultures and finds ecological factors play a part in shaping human societies, including religious belief.
"When life is tough or when it's uncertain, people believe in big gods," said Professor Russell Gray, from the University of Auckland's School of Psychology.
"Pro-social behaviour maybe helps people do well in harsh or unpredictable environments," said Gray.
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The new findings imply that complex practices and characteristics thought to be exclusive to humans arise from a medley of ecological, historical, and cultural variables.
The authors, including Dr Joseph Bulbulia from Victoria University of Wellington, used historical, social and ecological data for 583 societies to illustrate the multifaceted relationship between belief in moralising, high gods and external variables.
Where previous research relied on rough estimates of ecological conditions, this study used high-resolution global datasets for variables such as plant growth, rainfall and temperature.
"A lot of evolutionists have been busy trying to bang religion on the head but I think the challenge is to explain it," Gray said.
"Although some aspects of religion appear maladaptive, the near universal presence of religion suggests that there has to be some adaptive value and by looking at how these things vary ecologically, we get some insight," said Gray.