2-088 - The Development of Religious Concepts and Norms Across Cultures

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Religion is a fundamental component of children’s experience worldwide, providing a framework for living in the world and relating to supernatural phenomena. Children are introduced to religious concepts by parents and religious authorities. But developing religious knowledge often requires children to go beyond what they have been taught. Do gods—who cannot be directly observed—have bodies and emotions? And do the prescriptive norms of a religion––e.g., the requirement to fast during Ramadan––apply to only to members of a specific religion, or to all humans?

Drawing on data from six countries and several religious and secular groups, the four presentations will address how children learn about and apply religious concepts. Paper 1 demonstrates cross-cultural similarities and differences in beliefs about whether supernatural beings have bodies, minds, and emotions. Paper 2 provides insight into the transmission of metaphysical beliefs, showing that Christian and secular Chinese children form different beliefs about religious and scientific beings. Paper 3 presents evidence that Hindu and Muslim children in India generally apply religious norms only to followers of that religion, except when others enter that religion’s space (e.g., Hindus do not need to fast during Ramadan unless they are in a Muslim home). Finally, Paper 4 explores beliefs about religious change, finding that U.S. children expect people to become more religious after being punished, and believe that this will lead to more moral behavior. Together, these findings show that young children across the world learn and apply religious concepts and norms in nuanced ways.

Sub Unit

• Moral Development

Chairs

• Mahesh Srinivasan, UC Berkeley

• Audun Dahl, University of California Santa Cruz

Individual Presentations

• Beliefs about the mental lives of supernatural beings: A cross-cultural comparison - Presenting Author: Kara Weisman, Stanford University; Non-Presenting Author: Cristine H Legare, University of Texas at Austin; Non-Presenting Author: Tanya M. Luhrmann, Stanford University

• Secular and religious parents’ influence on children’s judgment about existence of unobservable entities in China - Presenting Author: Yixin Kelly Cui, Boston University; Non-Presenting Author: Jennifer M. Clegg, Texas State University; Non-Presenting Author: Fang Eleanor Yan, Georgia State University; Non-Presenting Author: Telli Davoodi, Boston University; Non-Presenting Author: Paul Harris, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Non-Presenting Author: Kathleen Helen Corriveau, Boston University

• Applications of Religious Norms across Contexts among Hindu and Muslim Children in India - Presenting Author: Mahesh Srinivasan, UC Berkeley; Non-Presenting Author: Catherine Berner, The Wright Institute; Non-Presenting Author: Audun Dahl, University of California Santa Cruz

• Children’s Views of Others’ Religious Beliefs - Presenting Author: Larisa Heiphetz, Columbia University; Non-Presenting Author: James Dunlea, Columbia University