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Journal ArticleDOI

Religious testimony in a secular society: Belief in unobservable entities among Chinese parents and their children.

01 Jan 2020-Developmental Psychology (American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org)-Vol. 56, Iss: 1, pp 117-127
TL;DR: The results indicate that children's religious beliefs are related to the beliefs of their parents, even when those beliefs go against the majority view.
Abstract: When learning about the existence of unobservable scientific phenomena such as germs or religious phenomena such as God, children are receptive to the testimony of other people. Research in Western cultures has shown that by 5 to 6 years of age, children-like adults-are confident about the existence of both scientific and religious phenomena. We examined the beliefs of secular and Christian children growing up in China as well as the beliefs of their parents. All participants-secular and Christian children, as well as their parents-were confident about the existence of the scientific phenomena. No such consensus emerged for religious phenomena. Whereas secular children and their parents were skeptical, Christian children and their parents were confident about the existence of the religious phenomena. Moreover, a similar pattern was found for Christian children in preschools and for Christian children with more extensive exposure to the secular state curriculum. Indeed, for religious phenomena, a positive association was found between the beliefs of Christian children and their parents, highlighting the potential influence of parental input in a predominantly secular society. Overall, the results indicate that children's religious beliefs are related to the beliefs of their parents, even when those beliefs go against the majority view. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Within the domains of both science and religion, beliefs in unobservable phenomena - such as bacteria or the soul - are common, and when individuals are invited to indicate the basis for their beliefs within each domain, a surprisingly similar pattern of justification is apparent.
Abstract: Within the domains of both science and religion, beliefs in unobservable phenomena - such as bacteria or the soul - are common. Yet given the radically different trajectory of scientific as compared to religious beliefs across human history, it is plausible that the psychological basis for beliefs in these two domains is also different. Indeed, there is evidence from children and adults in various cultures that people have greater confidence in their scientific beliefs than in their religious beliefs. However, when individuals are invited to indicate the basis for their beliefs within each domain, a surprisingly similar pattern of justification is apparent.

15 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results show that under certain circumstances - notably when holding minority beliefs - tracking the source of beliefs serves as a central epistemic justification.

14 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors explored the role of parental testimony in children's developing beliefs about the ontological status of typically unobservable phenomena and found that parents and their 5- to 7-year-old children (N ǫ = 25 ) were more likely to report that the ontology status of a phenomenon was unknown to them.
Abstract: We explored the role of parental testimony in children’s developing beliefs about the ontological status of typically unobservable phenomena. US parents and their 5- to 7-year-old children (N = 25 ...

12 citations


Cites background or methods or result from "Religious testimony in a secular so..."

  • ...By contrast, this relation might not emerge in our analyses in the domain of science because we anticipated little to no variation in parent and children’s ontological judgments (i.e., almost everyone will be very confident that the scientific entities exist; see Clegg et al., 2019; Cui et al., 2019; Davoodi et al., 2020)....

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  • ...vious research in the US and other cultural contexts (Clegg et al., 2019; Cui et al., 2019; Davoodi et al., 2020, 2018; Guerrero et al., 2010; Harris et al., 2006), parents and 5- to 7-year-old children were more confident in the existence of the scientific entities in...

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  • ...This research replicates previous studies showing that adults and children often hold similar beliefs about unobservable and endorsed beings (Cui et al., 2019; Davoodi et al., 2018; Harris et al., 2006) and that parents talk differently about these entities (Canfield & Ganea, 2014) but takes a substantial step forward to emphasize testimony as one of the primary socio-cultural mechanisms through which such beliefs develop....

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  • ...Despite these crossdomain similarities in patterns of justification, children profess more confidence in the existence of scientific as compared to supernatural unobservables (among other endorsed entities), in most of the cultural contexts studied thus far (Clegg, Cui, Harris, & Corriveau, 2019; Cui et al., 2019; Davoodi et al., 2020, 2018; Guerrero, Enesco, & Harris, 2010; Harris & Corriveau, 2021; Harris et al., 2006)....

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  • ...We chose these items based on those used in the previous research that investigated relations among parent–child scientific and religious beliefs (Cui et al., 2019; Davoodi et al., 2018) and survey data that indicated a strong consensus about the existence and nonexistence of these entities within individuals in the United States (Clegg et al....

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Book
31 Aug 2021
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a comprehensive yet concise account of scientific research on children's religious and spiritual development and highlight the need for more research that discriminates specific positive and negative manifestations of RS for children's development.
Abstract: This Element provides a comprehensive yet concise account of scientific research on children's religious and spiritual (RS) development. After providing a historical sketch of definitional issues in the science of RS, the first section reviews basic descriptive information on children's RS development as well as wholistic theoretical models and measures of children's RS development. The second section covers evidence about links of child and parental RS to children's psychosocial adjustment, and highlights the need for more research that discriminates specific positive and negative manifestations of RS for children's development. The third section summarizes evidence about the robust influence of parents on their children's RS development and parents' perceptions of their role in this process. The fourth section focuses on cognitive-developmental research on children's cognitions about God/deities and prayer. The Element concludes with a synopsis of key themes and challenges that researchers face to advance the science of children's RS development.

9 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper found that science mindsets increased whereas faith mindsets decreased during the early months of the pandemic and that science mindset was positive predictor of COVID-19 concern, while faith mindset was negative predictor of science mindset.

8 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A new version of the "theory theory" grounded in the computational framework of probabilistic causal models and Bayesian learning is proposed, which explains the learning of both more specific causal hypotheses and more abstract framework theories.
Abstract: We propose a new version of the “theory theory” grounded in the computational framework of probabilistic causal models and Bayesian learning. Probabilistic models allow a constructivist but rigorous and detailed approach to cognitive development. They also explain the learning of both more specific causal hypotheses and more abstract framework theories. We outline the new theoretical ideas, explain the computational framework in an intuitive and non-technical way, and review an extensive but relatively recent body of empirical results that supports these ideas. These include new studies of the mechanisms of learning. Children infer causal structure from statistical information, through their own actions on the world and through observations of the actions of others. Studies demonstrate these learning mechanisms in children from 16 months to 4 years old and include research on causal statistical learning, informal experimentation through play, and imitation and informal pedagogy. They also include studies of the variability and progressive character of intuitive theory change, particularly theory of mind. These studies investigate both the physical and psychological and social domains. We conclude with suggestions for further collaborative projects between developmental and computational cognitive scientists.

468 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Children's understanding of God's special powers and the afterlife shows that their acceptance of others' testimony extends beyond the empirical domain, and children appear to conceptualize unobservable scientific and religious entities similarly.
Abstract: Many adult beliefs are based on the testimony provided by other people rather than on firsthand observation. Children also learn from other people's testimony. For example, they learn that mental processes depend on the brain, that the earth is spherical, and that hidden bodily organs constrain life and death. Such learning might indicate that other people's testimony simply amplifies children's access to empirical data. However, children's understanding of God's special powers and the afterlife shows that their acceptance of others' testimony extends beyond the empirical domain. Thus, children appear to conceptualize unobservable scientific and religious entities similarly. Nevertheless, some children distinguish between the 2 domains, arguably because a different pattern of discourse surrounds scientific as compared to religious entities.

392 citations

Book
25 May 2012
TL;DR: The authors found that most of what we know we learned from others can be traced back to the fact that children recognize early on that other people are an excellent source of information and so they ask questions.
Abstract: If children were little scientists who learn best through firsthand observations and mini-experiments, as conventional wisdom holds, how would a child discover that the earth is round - never mind conceive of heaven as a place someone might go after death? Overturning both cognitive and commonplace theories about how children learn, "Trusting What You're Told" begins by reminding us of a basic truth: Most of what we know we learned from others. Children recognize early on that other people are an excellent source of information. And so they ask questions. But youngsters are also remarkably discriminating as they weigh the responses they elicit. And how much they trust what they are told has a lot to do with their assessment of its source. "Trusting What You're Told" opens a window into the moral reasoning of elementary school vegetarians, the preschooler's ability to distinguish historical narrative from fiction, and the six-year-old's nuanced stance toward magic: skeptical, while still open to miracles. Paul Harris shares striking cross-cultural findings, too, such as that children in religious communities in rural Central America resemble Bostonian children in being more confident about the existence of germs and oxygen than they are about souls and God. We are biologically designed to learn from one another, Harris demonstrates, and this greediness for explanation marks a key difference between human beings and our primate cousins. Even Kanzi, a genius among bonobos, never uses his keyboard to ask for information: he only asks for treats.

372 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: 3- and 4-year-olds tested for their sensitivity to agreement and disagreement among informants preferred to seek and endorse information from the informant who had belonged to the majority rather than the dissenter.
Abstract: In two experiments, 3- and 4-year-olds were tested for their sensitivity to agreement and disagreement among informants. In pretest trials, they watched as three of four informants (Experiment 1) or two of three informants (Experiment 2) indicated the same referent for an unfamiliar label; the remaining informant was a lone dissenter who indicated a different referent. Asked for their own judgment, the preschoolers sided with the majority rather than the dissenter. In subsequent test trials, one member of the majority and the dissenter remained present and continued to provide conflicting information about the names of unfamiliar objects. Children remained mistrustful of the dissenter. They preferred to seek and endorse information from the informant who had belonged to the majority. The implications and scope of children's early sensitivity to group consensus are discussed.

294 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The strategy of relying on the mother or the stranger, depending on the available perceptual cues, was especially evident among secure children, whereas insecure-resistant children displayed more.
Abstract: In a longitudinal study of attachment, children (N = 147) aged 50 and 61 months heard their mother and a stranger make conflicting claims. In 2 tasks, the available perceptual cues were equally consistent with either person's claim but children generally accepted the mother's claims over those of the stranger. In a 3rd task, the perceptual cues favored the stranger's claims, and children generally accepted her claims over those of the mother. However, children's pattern of responding varied by attachment status. The strategy of relying on the mother or the stranger, depending on the available perceptual cues, was especially evident among secure children. Insecure-avoidant children displayed less reliance on their mother's claims, irrespective of the available cues, whereas insecure-resistant children displayed more.

206 citations