Children from religious families are less kind and more punitive than those from non-religious households, according to a new study.

Academics from seven universities across the world studied Christian, Muslim and non-religious children to test the relationship between religion and morality.

They found that religious belief is a negative influence on children’s altruism.

“Overall, our findings ... contradict the commonsense and popular assumption that children from religious households are more altruistic and kind towards others,” said the authors of The Negative Association Between Religiousness and Children’s Altruism Across the World, published this week in Current Biology.

“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.”

Almost 1,200 children, aged between five and 12, in the US, Canada, China, Jordan, Turkey and South Africa participated in the study. Almost 24% were Christian, 43% Muslim, and 27.6% non-religious. The numbers of Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, agnostic and other children were too small to be statistically valid.

They were asked to choose stickers and then told there were not enough to go round for all children in their school, to see if they would share. They were also shown film of children pushing and bumping one another to gauge their responses.

The findings “robustly demonstrate that children from households identifying as either of the two major world religions (Christianity and Islam) were less altruistic than children from non-religious households”.

Older children, usually those with a longer exposure to religion, “exhibit[ed] the greatest negative relations”.

The study also found that “religiosity affects children’s punitive tendencies”. Children from religious households “frequently appear to be more judgmental of others’ actions”, it said.

Muslim children judged “interpersonal harm as more mean” than children from Christian families, with non-religious children the least judgmental. Muslim children demanded harsher punishment than those from Christian or non-religious homes.

At the same time, the report said that religious parents were more likely than others to consider their children to be “more empathetic and more sensitive to the plight of others”.

Young Americans shifting US towards becoming less religious nation
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The report pointed out that 5.8 billion humans, representing 84% of the worldwide population, identify as religious. “While it is generally accepted that religion contours people’s moral judgments and pro-social behaviour, the relation between religion and morality is a contentious one,” it said.

The report was “a welcome antidote to the presumption that religion is a prerequisite of morality”, said Keith Porteous Wood of the UK National Secular Society.

“It would be interesting to see further research in this area, but we hope this goes some way to undoing the idea that religious ethics are innately superior to the secular outlook. We suspect that people of all faiths and none share similar ethical principles in their day to day lives, albeit may express them differently depending on their worldview.”

According to the respected Pew Research Center, which examines attitudes toward and practices of faith, most people around the world think it is necessary to believe in God to be a moral person. In the US, 53% of adults think that faith in God is necessary to morality, a figure which rose to seven of 10 adults in the Middle East and three-quarters of adults in six African countries surveyed by Pew.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/06/religious-children-less-altruistic-secular-kids-study?CMP=fb_gu

Ok

interesting

Hmmmmmm

I can back that study up with my experience with students. As far as I know, religious people are generally hypocrites and they tend to discriminate against others who don't go with their religion. Though there are a few exceptional religious people

hahn mrmrmister JackBizzle dalaman Lennycool Hardmirror akintom

blueagent Image123 pidgin2 Anas09 benzics KingEbukasblog felixomor

randomperson:
blueagent Image123 pidgin2 Anas09 benzics KingEbukasblog felixomor

Seen

Tournel:
I can back that study up with my experience with students. As far as I know, religious people are generally hypocrites and they tend to discriminate against others who don't go with their religion. Though there are a few exceptional religious people

I think it's one of the problems of religion. It creates a "I'm right, you're wrong" mentality.

randomperson:
blueagent Image123 pidgin2 Anas09 benzics KingEbukasblog felixomor

Atheism has devastating effects on the brain itslef.
Confirmed.

https://www.nairaland.com/3493419/researches-reveal-atheism-devastating-effects

felixomor:


Atheism has devastating effects on the brain itslef.
Confirmed.

https://www.nairaland.com/3493419/researches-reveal-atheism-devastating-effects

Lolz... U can't counter the thread, right? I get it. Anyways, statistics have shown that on an average, atheists are more intelligent than Christians..
http://www.medicaldaily.com/proved-atheists-more-intelligent-religious-people-250727
So if the effect is more intelligence, can't complain.
. But let's not derail the thread okay?

randomperson:

Lolz... U can't counter the thread, right? I get it. Anyways, statistics have shown that on an average, atheists are more intelligent than Christians..
http://www.medicaldaily.com/proved-atheists-more-intelligent-religious-people-250727
So if the effect is more intelligence, can't complain.
. But let's not derail the thread okay?

Nah.
That study is false.
Afheism kills the brain.
Thats why Zuckerberg had to come out and reject it fast.
Otherwise, facebook may have been affected.

felixomor:


Nah.
That study is false.
Afheism kills the brain.
Thats why Zuckerberg had to come out and reject it fast.
Otherwise, facebook may have been affected.

Are you related to the retar.... called sciencewatch? You guys post the same crappy links about atheism

felixomor:


Nah.
That study is false.
Afheism kills the brain.
Thats why Zuckerberg had to come out and reject it fast.
Otherwise, facebook may have been affected.

The wiser theists have seen this thread and have hidden their faces but u just love humiliating yourself.
So your study is true and mine is false, on what basis exactly? Your feelings? ... If higher intelligence is the devastating effect atheism has on the brain, then god must have gotten something wrong.
So can u disprove the study which shows that religious children are meaner?

JackBizzle:



Are you related to the retar.... called sciencewatch? You guys post the same crappy links about atheism

Seriously, there are some weird people in this section... MrPresident, sciencewatch, felixomor...

JackBizzle:



Are you related to the retar.... called sciencewatch? You guys post the same crappy links about atheism

Since u have a good eye for rubbish,
I am surprised u didnt spot the one i was replying.

Ur rubbish detector is selective.

KingEbukasBlog:


Seen

Good boy

randomperson:

Seriously, there are some weird people in this section... MrPresident, sciencewatch, felixomor...

randomperson:

Seriously, there are some weird people in this section... MrPresident, sciencewatch, felixomor...

Yess ooo.

By the way, where was the study done? USA?

JackBizzle:



Are you related to the retar.... called sciencewatch? You guys post the same crappy links about atheism

That sciencewatch is worse o, maybe the guy has some kind of brain tumor, oh religion is actually the tumor.. When ever I see his name, I just scroll past his post..

benzics:

That sciencewatch is worse o, maybe the guy has some kind of brain tumor, oh religion is actually the tumor.. When ever I see his name, I just scroll past his post..

I swear, that guy seems to be on drugs

Yeah I've actually read about it before, guess you beat me to it.
It just goes to prove that people are good without the need for God.
You should post the link though, doubters are coming.

benzics:

That sciencewatch is worse o, maybe the guy has some kind of brain tumor, oh religion is actually the tumor.. When ever I see his name, I just scroll past his post..

No be small.
He always seems to also advertise TB Joshua whenever possible.
Hell who knows, it might actually be TB Joshua himself on nairaland

JackBizzle:



Yess ooo.

By the way, where was the study done? USA?

Seven countries. US, Canada, Jordan, China, Turkey, south Africa.

Lennycool:
Yeah I've actually read about it before, guess you beat me to it.
It just goes to prove that people are good without the need for God.
You should post the link though, doubters are coming.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/06/religious-children-less-altruistic-secular-kids-study?CMP=fb_gu

Lennycool:

No be small.
He always seems to also advertise TB Joshua whenever possible.
Hell who knows, it might actually be TB Joshua himself on nairaland

Lol, it's highly possible o, always talking of SCOAN, even in matters that doesn't concern any church..

felixomor:

Weirdo... Sonoflucifer was probably right

randomperson:
hahn mrmrmister JackBizzle dalaman Lennycool Hardmirror akintom

Obviously. What else do you expect from someone who is content knowing that billions of people will burn forever

randomperson:

Seriously, there are some weird people in this section... MrPresident, sciencewatch, felixomor...

Lolzz. You and this felixomor guy ehn!

@op, the article is perfectly right. Religious children tend to see themselves overly right and look down - sometimes go as far as harming - on those who don't share same belief as them.

Thank goodness the world is gradually coming to cognizance to the truth that was cemented by religious lies at the back end of our minds.

randomperson:

Weirdo... Sonoflucifer was probably right

I will always be weird to somebody who says he is son of lucifer.
Of course

randomperson:

The wiser theists have seen this thread and have hidden their faces but u just love humiliating yourself.
So your study is true and mine is false, on what basis exactly? Your feelings? ... If higher intelligence is the devastating effect atheism has on the brain, then god must have gotten something wrong.
So can u disprove the study which shows that religious children are meaner?

We all know why u r atheist.
Stop all these unnecessary copying of google, wikipedia

You want to be free inside your mind to commit sin
But u keep fighting with the mind and Keep running back here, when your conscience is winning.
Nothing else.

Period.

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