First off, there’s an “Intenational Journal for the Psychology of Religion”. Dude. That should be an article in and of itself.

Also, I liked this assertion:

Although recent research indicates that positive rewards can encourage cooperative behavior when there is an opportunity to form
social relationships… the [Supernatural Punishment Hypothesis, SPH] specifically predicts that it is the punishing aspects of gods and the threat of divine punishment, rather than any loving or compassionate traits, which are responsible for keeping adherents from crossing ethical boundaries in anonymous situations where they would otherwise be tempted.
Therefore, if gods make people good, it may be because of the credible threat of their punitive tendencies. As a result, the SPH specifically predicts that a belief in fearful and punishing aspects of supernatural agents should be associated with honest behavior, whereas a belief in the kind, loving aspects of gods should be less relevant.

I wonder if this self-inflicted fear of punishment, and acceptance of such punishment, has anything to do with why some religious folk have the holier-than-thou complex. This comes from an atheist Jew. ‘Nough said.