A major study, published in the ‘science’ journal, has revealed that people, who believe in God and frequently attend religious services as well as offer prayers, are more helpful, honest and generous.

And, what’s more interesting is that the study found that believers acting for the greater good may be doing so to enhance their own reputation among friends and acquaintances, the ‘Daily Mail’ reported.

Lead scientist Dr Ara Norenzayan of British Columbia University said that the debate over whether religion improves behaviour had too often been driven by opinion and anecdote.

“We wanted to look at the hard scientific evidence.” In fact, their study into the links between religion and “pro-social” behaviour showed that religious and spiritual thoughts reduced rates of cheating in games and increased trust between strangers.

In one experiment, volunteers who had been told that a dead student’s ghost had been seen in the experiment room cheated less on a test than those who had not -- children said a fictional character called Princess Alice was watching them were less likely to disobey their instructions.

Other experiments showed that good behaviour “is more likely when religious thoughts are fresh in the mind” -- when such behaviour boosts someone’s reputation.

In another experiment, the volunteers were given the choice of volunteering to raise money for a sick child who could not pay his medical bills. Some were told that they would almost certainly be asked to help -- others were told that they were unlikely to be called upon.