Abiders or Avoiders: Is Religiosity Associated With Better Grades?

• In Event: Promising Scholarship in Education: Dissertation Fellows and Their Research

Abstract

Why Study Religiosity and Achievement?

Religion is a powerful social force— it influences how Americans vote, where they choose to live, who their friends are, how much time they spend with family, and how happy they are. Yet, when education scholars explore the role of background characteristics on education, they typically ignore the role of religion. This gap is surprising since the United States is a highly religious country: half of American teenagers ages 13-17 say that religious faith is “very” or “extremely” important in shaping their daily lives. Religiosity explains additional variance in school grades, above and beyond race, class, and gender.


Defining & Measuring Religiosity

Religious Abiders display high levels across all measured dimensions of religiosity and “abide” by religion in a classic institutional sense. They have a high belief in a personal God, believe in an afterlife, are unlikely to doubt their beliefs, emphasize the role of faith in their daily lives, feel close to God, attend religious services weekly or more and pray once a day or more.

Religious Avoiders believe in God (unlike Atheists) but avoid religious involvement and broader issues of the relevance of religion for their life. They think that the afterlife “maybe” exists, say that religious faith is “not at all important” or “not very important,” and feel “extremely” to “somewhat distant” from God. They “rarely” or “never” think about the meaning of life, and they never attend religious services or pray.


Why Do Abiders get Better Grades than Avoiders?

Interview data suggest that Abiders are consistently more conscientious and more agreeable than Avoiders. Both of these personality traits are linked with improved academic performance (Chowdhury & Amin, 2006). Abiders are respectful of authority, show self-discipline, act dutifully, and are compassionate and cooperative towards others. Abiders avoid risk and follow rules, particularly around using alcohol and drugs, watching R-rated movies and pornography, and having sex. Where do they learn these rules? Abiders take seriously the rules of their religion, which create strong boundaries that preclude adolescents from engaging in activities that are detrimental to their school performance. Given that adolescents cite alcohol and drugs as being one of the main problems facing teens, abstaining from alcohol and drugs takes strong commitment and self-discipline. In this way religion functions as a protective factor for adolescents as they navigate through a particularly critical time in their lives. Abiders also consistently show respect and empathy towards adults, particularly teachers. Even if they don’t like a teacher, they rarely criticize him. Being religious helps adolescents in middle/high school because they are rewarded for being obedient, respectful, and having self-control.

Author

• Ilana Horwitz, Stanford University