topic Re: Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide in Community Chat

Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide

Maudelynn — Sun, 08 Nov 2015 21:29:15 GMT

ages 5- 12, 1/3 secular, 2/3 religious, finds that the religious group is less generous, and more prone to judgement and vengeance. However, the parents of these children view them as more accepting and sensitive to the plight of others.

Negative Association Between Religiousness and Children’s Altruism Across the World was published in leading Scientific journal Current Biology this week. A statement issued by its authors reads:

“Overall, our findings … contradict the commonsense and popular assumption that children from religious households are more altruistic and kind towards others. More generally, they call into question whether religion is vital for moral development, supporting the idea that secularisation of moral discourse will not reduce human kindness – in fact, it will do just the opposite.”

Re: Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide

Burnsite — Sun, 08 Nov 2015 21:37:33 GMT

Studies among adults would be more revealing, as children grow up and often alter their childhood beliefs. My sense is that I know many people, both secular and religious, who are very compassionate.

Children can be a lot more mean, esp. to other children who are in any way "different."

Re: Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide

NoelSeven — Sun, 08 Nov 2015 21:39:34 GMT

@Maudelynn wrote:
ages 5- 12, 1/3 secular, 2/3 religious, finds that the religious group is less generous, and more prone to judgement and vengeance. However, the parents of these children view them as more accepting and sensitive to the plight of others.

Negative Association Between Religiousness and Children’s Altruism Across the World was published in leading Scientific journal Current Biology this week. A statement issued by its authors reads:
“Overall, our findings … contradict the commonsense and popular assumption that children from religious households are more altruistic and kind towards others. More generally, they call into question whether religion is vital for moral development, supporting the idea that secularisation of moral discourse will not reduce human kindness – in fact, it will do just the opposite.”

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Those were interesting studies!

Re: Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide

Maudelynn — Sun, 08 Nov 2015 21:51:32 GMT

I wanted to add that the religious group was comprised of Christian and Muslim children.

Re: Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide

1MrsT — Sun, 08 Nov 2015 22:09:03 GMT

I find the whole thing so sad...and yet not so surprising. I was raised in a religious family, but any more...the "us against them" divisiveness that is permeating our entire world, has found a strong foothold in many religions. For those that believe, no matter what name He's called in the different religions - what harms one of us...ultimately harms all of us. If the parents and adults in the community don't recognize this truth, neither will our children.

Re: Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide

NoelSeven — Sun, 08 Nov 2015 22:20:58 GMT

@MrsT wrote:
I find the whole thing so sad...and yet not so surprising. I was raised in a religious family, but any more...the "us against them" divisiveness that is permeating our entire world, has found a strong foothold in many religions. For those that believe, no matter what name He's called in the different religions - what harms one of us...ultimately harms all of us. If the parents and adults in the community don't recognize this truth, neither will our children.

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Wonderfully said!

Re: Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide

NoelSeven — Sun, 08 Nov 2015 22:24:25 GMT

There have been many studies over the years showing the same results as this:

Study: Poor Are More Charitable Than The Wealthy

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129068241

Re: Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide

Maudelynn — Sun, 08 Nov 2015 22:31:25 GMT

When I read this, I couldn't help think about a woman I know with 6 children. Very, very religious, homeschools the kids, limits the teenage boys to 3 minutes in the shower, bans secular tv, radio and music- though she and the kids post prolifically on FB and Instagram- and spends all their free time at the church. I have never, ever, read such hateful FB posts as the posts I see her children make. Particularly the boys. The posts are filled with guns, violence and the worst kinds of commentary about the secular citizens of this country. I am not surprised at this study at all, just from knowing this family.

Re: Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide

Karnerblue — Sun, 08 Nov 2015 23:35:18 GMT

@Maudelynn, are you trying to make a point here?

Re: Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide

Moonchilde — Sun, 08 Nov 2015 23:40:11 GMT

@Karnerblue wrote:
@Maudelynn, are you trying to make a point here?

Whatever point is to be made, vs. discussion to be had, it is by the survey, not the OP.

Re: Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide

Maudelynn — Sun, 08 Nov 2015 23:45:14 GMT

@Karnerblue wrote:
@Maudelynn, are you trying to make a point here?

What's yours?

Re: Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide

maestra — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 00:07:37 GMT

Only 1200 subjects? Too small a survey group to make such wide-sweeping generalizations.

Re: Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide

kjae — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 00:13:55 GMT

I don't believe this for a second.

Re: Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide

Maudelynn — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 00:16:24 GMT

It is a statistically significant number. Studies are not done without using subjects in statistically significant quantities.

Re: Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide

Mrsq2022 — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 01:38:06 GMT

I think that this makes perfect sense. The "community" promoted in churches is typically limited to those within that particular "community". "Tight-knit" is considered a positive quality in churches. Evangelism and fundamentalism is based on converting others because conversion is deemed by the religion as an "improvement" in ones beliefs. When someone knocks on my door to convince me of the "right" way of thinking, they aren't being respectful of MY way of thinking. They feel that their faith is superior to mine, and that I would benefit from becoming more like them. I think that anyone with a deep faith in anything believes that their way of thinking is "superior" to others.

Children are like sponges. They comprehend this message loud and clear.

Re: Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide

Lucky Charm — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 02:08:22 GMT

@Maudelynn

Assuming the tot pictured is an offspring of yours, which would you say is best for him/her?

Re: Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide

Bestdressed — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 02:27:52 GMT

@Maudelynn wrote:
I wanted to add that the religious group was comprised of Christian and Muslim children.

Full disclosure to include all groups and test in the study:
IMO ... Interesting study results with such limited testing.

To examine the influence of religion on the expression of altruism, Decety and his colleagues asked more than 1,100 children between the ages of five and twelve from the US, Canada, Jordan, Turkey, South Africa, and China to play a game in which they were asked to make decisions about how many stickers to share with an anonymous person from the same school and a similar ethnic group.

Most of the children came from households that identified as Christian, Muslim, or not religious. The study also included smaller numbers of children from Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, and agnostic home

The children became more generous with age, consistent with earlier studies. But their religious rearing environment also fundamentally shaped their altruistic tendencies, with more-religious children showing less generosity. Importantly, the researchers report, children who were the most altruistic came from atheist or non-religious families.

The data also show that religious children judged interpersonal harm as being meaner and deserving of harsher punishment than did children from non-religious households. Those findings are consistent with past research in adults showing that religiousness is directly related to increased intolerance for and punitive attitudes toward interpersonal offenses, including the probability of supporting harsh penalties.

"A common-sense notion is that religiosity has a positive association with self-control and moral behaviors," Decety said. "This view is unfortunately so deeply embedded that individuals who are not religious can be considered morally suspect. In the United States, for instance, non-religious individuals have little chance to be elected to a high political office, and those who identify as agnostic and atheist are considered to be less trustworthy and more likely to be amoral or even immoral. Thus, it is generally admitted that religion shapes people's moral judgments and prosocial behavior, but the relation between religiosity and morality is actually a contentious one, and not always positive."

Decety says he is now in the process of expanding the work to include children of ages four to eight in 14 countries—Canada, China, Cuba, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Turkey, Jordan, Taiwan, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Norway, and Mexico

Re: Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide

jubilant — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 02:38:14 GMT

Just when you think you have heard it all. I'm speechless......which is probably a good thing! This test does not have the faintest hint of wisdom and knowledge of children. Five to twelve yr. olds..... " vengeance and judgement"????? Those two words gave the people away who ran this test. This is all the time I intend to give to this...it's just so ridiculous.

Re: Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide

sam96 — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 02:44:22 GMT

@Maudelynn wrote:
It is a statistically significant number. Studies are not done without using subjects in statistically significant quantities.

It is not a statistically significant number, and studies are done all the time using insignificant quantities. The researcher determines the pool of subjects.

How do I know this is not a statistically significant number (besides common sense in comparing 1200 to the total number of children in this age group to the total number on the planet?). I have 2 degrees in mathematics, and have studied statistics.

Re: Interesting Study of 1200 Children Worldwide

Lila Belle — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 03:30:45 GMT

400 is usually considered an appropriate and reliable # for a political poll. that makes 1200 significant and probably more reliable.