I think this is very interesting but not too surprising. Until a couple of hundred years, many (if not most) educated people where closely associated with some form of organized religion, and the study of human behavior from both descriptive and prescriptive perspectives was an important line of work of religious scholars. Also, I'm wondering if one can track a clear line from the principles of (micro)economic rationality, i.e. clear and consistent preferences, back to religious principles like "if in doubt, remain consistent" (colloquialized) as devised by Talmudic scholars in the 19th century, see e.g. Shev Shema'tata: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shev_Shema%27tata.