How can non-religious communities promote helping behaviour? Our seventh Secular Assembly of the year, held on 30 August, explored this question with compelling research insights.
‘The Rise of Nonreligion and its Perpetuating Beliefs’ was the subject of a guest presentation by Robin Weber, a member of our humanist community and a researcher. Robin began with various studies on global trends in religiosity and non-religiosity, highlighting the increasing prevalence of non-religious demographics around the world. He also shared surprising research about the religiously unaffiliated in Singapore, such as the Pew Research finding that 62% of non-religious adults in Singapore ‘believe in God or unseen beings’.
Indeed, even within the non-religious, there is a huge range of beliefs. As societies become increasingly diverse and secular, it’s important to ask what factors independent of religion can contribute to prosociality, or behaviour that benefits others.
Robin shared that at an individual level, these factors include self-compassion and empathy for others, as well as social support (the perception of being understood, supported and respected.) In fact, social networks are thought to be a generally stronger driver of religious groups’ prosociality compared with a belief in a higher power.
As such, for a secularising society to maintain impersonal prosociality (prosociality towards others outside of one’s in-group), a sense of social inclusion and cohesion are essential. With this foundation, if other-oriented values such as a sense of social responsibility are cultivated, a stronger community is more likely to arise and in turn bring about prosocial behaviour.
In addition to Robin’s enriching talk, the Assembly programme included an update on the Society’s donation drive for Singapore Red Cross (we exceeded our $1,000 fundraising target!), and soul-nourishing traditions: a lively singalong and a guided mindfulness exercise.
Join us at the next HSS event, where we’ll continue to build the humanist community!
