The Influence of Religion on Socially Responsible Investing

Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) is an alternative way to invest one’s assets. SRI, apart from financial returns, also considers the environmental, social or ethical aspects of an investment decision. Socially responsible investors are interested not only in maximizing their financial return in the long run, but also in taking into consideration other non-financial issues, that is, so-called ESG factors (Environment, Social and Governance). Most of the existing papers on SRI focus on financial performance. There is a need for more research on the conceptual and theoretical bases of such investing; in particular, the aspirations of SRI investors or motives that lead people to be socially responsible investors. The main goal of the current study was to explore the influence of religion on attitudes towards SRI. This study will first present existing theories about attitudes towards SRI, and discuss the influence of religion on investors’ behavior. Next the objectives, methodology and the results of a study conducted among investors in Poland will be presented. The final section will provide a discussion, including research implications and conclusions