Religion through an evolutionary lens

An ascetic practice model in dialogue with adaptation and byproduct theories

Bibliographic Data

ID17832205
AuthorsXinyue Tian (0000-0002-9337-2609, Ocean University of China), Benqian Sang (Ocean University of China, corresponding author)
Year2026
Publication date2026-04-06
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHumanities and Social Sciences Communications (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2662-9992 • E-ISSN: 2662-9992
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1057/s41599-026-07196-x
OpenAlexW7150809125
LanguageEN
References cited70

Religious practices have long been studied for their psychological effects, yet their relationship to human pleasure systems remains underexplored. This study investigates how practices such as prayer, scripture chanting, asceticism, and meditation interact with neural pleasure circuits. Through neurobiological analysis and psychological evidence, we examine responses documented during various religious activities. Results from the literature indicate that these practices effectively activate pleasure-related circuits, revealing that ascetic religious practices do not inherently conflict with humanity’s tendency to seek pleasure. Our analysis indicates that religion’s evolutionary adaptability manifests in its ability to sustain well-being despite low resource consumption. We conclude that religious practices can be reinterpreted as a strategy of “finding joy in hardship,” and propose that faith may emerge as a consequence of religious practice rather than its cause, positioning deities as peripheral institutional tools rather than religion’s core. Rather than offering a definitive synthesis of existing theories, this paper positions the Ascetic Practice Model as an evolutionary-friendly framework that invites dialogue with adaptationist and byproduct accounts

Adaptability · Asceticism · Faith · Happiness · Pleasure · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology

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