Figure: Religion This graph illustrates the work of psychologists Harvey Whitehouse and Quentin Atkinson,as published in the April 23-29,2011 issue of The Economist.The "unpleasantness" of religious rituals (0 is low,5 is high)is along the x-axis.How often the religion requires the ritual to be performed is along the y-axis.What economic concept does this diagram represent?

Question

Figure: Religion  This graph illustrates the work of psychologists Harvey Whitehouse and Quentin Atkinson,as published in the April 23-29,2011 issue of The Economist.The "unpleasantness" of religious rituals (0 is low,5 is high)is along the x-axis.How often the religion requires the ritual to be performed is along the y-axis.What economic concept does this diagram represent?

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This diagram represents a demand curve, as it shows the relationship between frequency of ritual and unpleasantness of the ritual on a graph. The y-axis represents the quantity demanded (how often the ritual is performed) and the x-axis represents the price (the unpleasantness of the ritual). The demand curve slopes downwards, meaning that as the unpleasantness of the ritual increases, the frequency of the ritual decreases - this is because people are less willing to perform the ritual if it is unpleasant.

Figure: Religion This Graph Illustrates the Work of Psychologists