Contrary to what some may argue, failing to bring up children in a faith-based household will not turn them into selfish kids who don’t share well with others and who are less willing to forgive the bad behavior of others, according to a new University of Chicago study.
In fact, as a team of developmental psychologists led by UC professor Jean Decety explained in the November 5 edition of the journal Current Biology, the opposite may actually be true: The children of religious parents may actually be less altruistic as a whole than their secular counterparts.
Decety and his colleagues studied the behavior and perceptions of youngsters from six different countries, assessing both their tendency to share and their inclination to judge/punish others for bad behavior. They found that children brought up in religious households were less likely share and displayed more punitive tendencies than those brought up in non-faith-based homes.
“Our findings contradict the common-sense and popular assumption that children from religious households are more altruistic and kind toward others,” the UC professor said in a statement. “In our study, kids from atheist and non-religious families were, in fact, more generous.”
Christian, Muslim kids less likely to share, more in favor of harsh punishment
Decety’s research involved 1,170 children between the ages of five and 12 from six nations: the US, Canada, China, Jordan, South Africa, and Turkey. To gauge their altruism, children took part in a version of the “Dictator Game” in which they were given 10 stickers and given the chance to share them with an unseen child. Altruism was based on the number of stickers shared.
To gauge their moral sensitivity, the children were asked to watch short videos in which a person pushed or bumped another character, either accidentally or on purpose. Afterwards, the kids were asked about how mean the behavior was and the level of punishment that should be administered to the offending character.
The study authors also asked the parents to fill out questionnaires about their family’s religious beliefs and practices, as well as their children’s perceived empathy and sense of justice. From the data, the researchers found that children from Christian or Muslim households were significantly less likely than those from non-religious households to share their stickers, and that non-religious children were less likely to favor stronger punishments for anti-social behaviors.
“Together, these results reveal the similarity across countries in how religion negatively influences children’s altruism,” Decety said. “They challenge the view that religiosity facilitates prosocial behavior, and call into question whether religion is vital for moral development – suggesting the secularization of moral discourse does not reduce human kindness. In fact, it does just the opposite.”
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Feature Image: Thinkstock
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