Influence of Religious Orientation on Altruistic Behaviour

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of religious orientation on altruistic behaviour. Four hundred and eighty (480) Nigerians (275 Christians and 205 Muslims) who were present at the time of this study and agreed to respond to the researcher’s instrument participated in this study. They were drawn from different parts of Nigeria, such as Enugu, Kano, and Lagos States. Their age ranged between 25 and 50 years. Their minimum educational qualification is WAEC or SSCE, while a Masters Degree is their maximum educational qualification. The Self-Report Altruism (SRA) Scale developed by Rushton, Chrisjohn and Fekken (1981), validated for use in Nigeria by the researcher, was used to measure the Nigerians’ altruistic behaviours. The design for this study was a Cross-Sectional Survey, while Analysis of Variance was used for statistical analysis of data generated. The result indicated a significant influence of religious orientation on altruistic behaviour of Nigerians [F (1,472) = 5.87, p<.05]. This showed that Christians were
found to be more altruistic than their Muslim counterparts, thereby rejecting the null hypothesis.
The researcher therefore, recommended that attention should be given to the development of altruistic behaviour among Muslims, while Christians should be encouraged to sustain the tempo since it will go a long way to enhance national unity in Nigeria.