How Empathic is Your God: An Adaptive Network Model for Formation and Use of a Mental God-Model and Its Effect on Human Empathy

Religion is an important aspect of many individuals’ lives. A central element of it is a mental God-model. Such a mental God-model can have different forms and depending on that it has a specific influence on human behaviour. This has been extensively studied from different perspectives. The current study uses a number of these perspectives as a basis for an integrative adaptive network model for formation and use of a mental God-model. It describes the mental states involved, their mutual relations, and the adaptation of some of these relations over time due to learning. Based on the obtained network model, simulations can be done for almost any kind of religion and person, showing different behaviours for persons with different religious backgrounds and characters. The focus here was mainly on the very relevant topic of the influence of religion on human empathy and disempathy. The developed adaptive network model can be valuable for many uses, involving support for a better understanding, and even prediction, of the behaviour of religious individuals and its underlying mechanisms. It is illustrated for a number of different scenarios for different types of persons and religions.