The preference for smaller-sooner rewards over larger-delayed ones (temporal discounting, TD) has been suggested to be influenced by religiosity, through its role in enhancing self-control. Here we investigate this issue in Muslims, Catholics, and two control groups of Italian and Iranian atheists, by measuring implicit religiosity (implicit association test, IAT) and the cognitive dynamics underlying TD (using mouse tracking). Results showed that Muslims are the most farsighted, while Catholics are the most shortsighted and both atheists’ groups fall in between these two extremes; additionally, these results are also shaped by implicit religiosity (IAT). Mouse tracking analyses reveal that Muslims show higher cognitive conflict compared to the other groups, which arises only in later stages of processing. This indicates that farsighted behavior in Muslims requires the recruitment of self-control in order to regulate intertemporal decision-making. Our findings suggest that the highly demanding religious precepts enforced in (most) Islamic communities may help strengthen self-control abilities.

有人认为，较早的奖励比较早的奖励（时间折扣，TD）更受宗教影响，因为它在增强自我控制中起着重要的作用。在这里，我们通过测量隐式宗教信仰（隐式联想测验，IAT）和TD背后的认知动态（使用鼠标跟踪），在穆斯林，天主教徒以及意大利和伊朗无神论者的两个对照组中调查此问题。结果表明，穆斯林是最有远见的，而天主教徒是最有远见的，无神论者的团体都介于这两个极端之间。此外，这些结果还受到隐性宗教信仰（IAT）的影响。鼠标跟踪分析显示，与其他群体相比，穆斯林表现出更高的认知冲突，这种冲突仅在加工的后期才出现。这表明穆斯林有远见的行为需要招募自我控制，以规范跨时期的决策。我们的发现表明，（大多数）伊斯兰社区实施的要求严格的宗教戒律可能有助于增强自我控制能力。