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Given the importance of religion for most countries and the large number of religious people in the world, the beneficial effects of religions have received increasing research interest. To date, a large body of literature supports the religious prosociality hypothesis, but there are still controversies. Drawing on worldwide databases from World Values Surveys (WVS) and World Giving Index (WGI), this study conducted national-level analyses to throw new light on these controversies. Results showed that: (a) national religiosity was not related to WGI and time volunteering, but was positively related to helping a stranger and negatively related to donating money. (b) Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita moderated the relationship between national religiosity and WGI, donation money, volunteering time, and helping a stranger. In less affluent countries, religion functioned efficiently in promoting prosocial behavior. However, in economically developed countries its function may have been substituted by other factors related to social development and civilization. This study suggests that economic factors may be the solution of the religion engagement paradox.

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The relationships between several Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and prosocial behavior at national level have been investigated by some studies. Yet the roles of indulgence versus restraint (IVR) and long-term versus short-term orientation (LTO), two newly established cultural dimensions, have received insufficient interest. This study aimed to investigate whether the World Giving Index (WGI), a national level measure of prosocial behavior (including donating, volunteering, and helping a stranger) provided by Gallup, was affected by IVR and LTO. The results suggested a positive link between IVR and WGI, and a negative link between LTO and helping a stranger. Culture values can in a great extend account for why prosocial behavior varies across countries. Further analysis revealed interactions among IVR, LTO, and individualism versus collectivism (IND). Simple slope analyses found that: (1) a higher level of IND could enhance the positive influence of IVR on prosocial behavior; (2) a lower level of IND could weaken the negative impact of LTO on prosocial behavior; (3) a higher level of IVR could weaken the negative effect of LTO on prosocial behavior.