In a Darwinian world, religious behavior - just like other behaviors - is likely to have undergone a process of natural selection in which it was rewarded in the evolutionary currency of reproductive success. This book aims to provide a better understanding of the social scenarios in which selection pressure led to religious practices becoming an evolved human trait, i.e. an adaptive answer to the conditions of living and surviving that prevailed among our prehistoric ancestors. This aim is pursued by a team of expert authors from a range of disciplines. Their contributions examine the relevant physiological, emotional, cognitive and social processes. The resulting understanding of the functional interplay of these processes gives valuable insights into the biological roots and benefits of religion.

Evaluating the Evolutionary Status of Religiosity and Religiousnessreligiousness

Gods, Gains, and Genes
How Some Major Components of Religion Could Have Evolved by Natural Selection?
The Correlated History of Social Organization, Moralitymorality , and Religion
Is There a Particular Role for Ideational Aspects of Religions in Human Behavioral Ecology?
Talk and Tradition: Why the Least Interesting Components of Religion May Be the Most Evolutionarily Important
The Reproductive Benefits of Religious Affiliation
The African Interregnum: The "Where," "When," and "Why" of the Evolution of Religion
Explaining the Inexplicable: Traditional and Syncretistic Religiosity in Melanesia
Authoritarianism,Religiousness,religiousness and Conservatismconservatism : Is "Obedience to Authority" the Explanation for Their Clustering, Universality and Evolution?
Cognitive Foundations in the Development of a Religious Mind
Religious Belief and Neurocognitive Processes of the Self
Neurologic Constraints on Evolutionary Theories of Religion
On Shared Psychological Mechanisms of Religiousnessreligiousness and Delusional Beliefs
Cognitive Foundations of Religiosity
The Religious System as Adaptive: Cognitive Flexibility, Public Displays, and Acceptance
The Evolution of Evolutionary Theories of Religion
Evolutionary Perspectives on Religion - What They Can and What They Cannot Explain (Yet).