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Religion Doesn't Make Kids More Generous or Altruistic, Study Finds

posted by janrinok on Saturday November 07 2015, @11:54PM   
from the thank-$DEITY dept.

"exec" writes:

Here's a discovery that could make secular parents say hallelujah: Children who grow up in non-religious homes are more generous and altruistic than children from observant families. ...

A series of experiments involving 1,170 kids from a variety of religious backgrounds found that the non-believers were more likely to share stickers with their classmates and less likely to endorse harsh punishments for people who pushed or bumped into others.

The results "contradict the common-sense and popular assumption that children from religious households are more altruistic and kind toward others," according to a study published this week in the journal Current Biology.

Worldwide, about 5.8 billion people consider themselves religious, and religion is a primary way for cultures to express their ideas about proper moral behavior — especially behavior that involves self-sacrifice for the sake of others.

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Original Submission

• Re:My observation - confirmed.(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Monday November 09 2015, @06:49PM

  by jdavidb (5690) on Monday November 09 2015, @06:49PM (#260853) Homepage Journal

  I pretty much agree. For most people it seems to be very much about control. (One might bring up a certain point from Jesus about pulling the beam out of one's own eyes before attacking others' eyes for motes.) For many people Christianity is almost 100% about culture and nationality and straightening out America and voting Republican (or voting Democrat) or whatever. And many pastors, priests, and ministers will agree with me that for far too many, Christianity makes little or no impact on their behavior. The divorce and adultery rates inside of the church seem to be the same as for those outside of the church, for example. And don't even get me started on disrespectful abusive speech and angry outbursts. My belief is that Christ wants us to start with these character issues in ourselves. I see that all over Scripture, and sometimes see it in older Christian writings when they didn't have the same political axes to grind. For me I've been greatly rewarded in my life and relationships for trying to work on these, though I'm sure I still have plenty of work to do.

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