Fear of supernatural punishment can harmonize human societies with nature: an evolutionary game-theoretic approach

Abstract Human activities largely impact the natural environment negatively and radical changes in human societies would be required to achieve their sustainable relationship with nature. Although frequently overlooked, previous studies have suggested that supernatural beliefs can protect nature from human overexploitation via beliefs that supernatural entities punish people who harm nature. Studies of folklore and ethnology have shown that such supernatural beliefs are widely found. However, it remains unclear under which conditions such supernatural beliefs prevent people from harming nature, because overexploiting natural resources without supernatural beliefs produces the greatest benefits. The current study aimed to build a mathematical model based on the evolutionary game theory and derive the conditions under which supernatural beliefs can spread in society, thereby preserving natural resources. To maintain supernatural beliefs, the fear of supernatural punishment invoked by scarce natural environments would, on one hand, be strong enough to prevent overexploitation but, on the other, be weak enough for the supernatural belief to spread in society via missionary events. Our results supported that supernatural beliefs would facilitate sustainable relationships between human societies and nature. In particular, the study highlighted supernatural beliefs as an essential driver for achieving sustainability by altering people’s interaction with nature.