Are religious people more caring? Exploring the impact of religiosity on charitable organizations in a developing country

The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of religiosity on reasons that individuals volunteer. Additionally, this study will investigate the pro-social attitudes towards helping others and charitable organizations. This study focuses on Indonesia where religion plays an important role in daily life. The data were derived from a convenience sampling at a large private university in Surabaya, Indonesia (N = 258). The results showed that individuals with high intrinsic and extrinsic personal religiosity were more likely to have 'other-oriented' reasons when performing philanthropic activities. Nonetheless, religiosity did not influence attitudes of individuals towards helping others. This study contributes to the debate regarding the effect of religious values on pro-social attitudes in the context of a developing country. Furthermore, the study provides social implications for researchers, policy makers and practitioners operating in a developing country. This is one of the first few studies exploring the impact of religion on attitude towards charitable organization in Indonesia. Copyright (C) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.