Post by Gandalf The White on May 2, 2017 17:30:48 GMT 10
I just had to put this one up ... (can you guess why?) Hint: a certain person doesn't like this topic. 
Something that I have observed over my brief existence on the planet ... parroting pious platitudes does not translate into action in very many people.
(How's that for alliteration!)
Religious children meaner than agnostic and atheist kids, study finds
THE AUSTRALIAN NOVEMBER 06, 2015 4:00AM
John Ross
Higher Education Reporter
An international study has found children in religious families are meaner than their godless peers. Source: Supplied
They grow up in wholesome households, raised to love their neighbours, but new research suggests righteous kids are the tightest.
An international study has found children in religious families are meaner than their godless peers. The report, published today in the journal Current Biology, challenges notions that equate piety with charity.
“Religion and morality are two different things,” said lead author Jean Decety, a Chicago University neuroscientist.
“Past research has demonstrated that religious people are no more likely to do good than their non-religious counterparts. Our study goes beyond that, showing that religious people are less generous — not only adults, but children, too.”
In the study, more than 1100 kids aged between five and 12 were asked to share stickers with anonymous schoolmates. The subjects lived in North America, the Middle East, South Africa and China, and included Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and Hindus.
Those from agnostic and atheist households consistently proved less likely to keep the best stickers to themselves. “The more religious the parents, the less altruistic the children, irrespective of the religion,” Dr Decety told The Australian.
He attributed the findings to a phenomenon dubbed “moral licensing”, where people’s perceptions that they were doing good — in this case, practising religion — exempted them from the obligation to perform other worthy deeds. “Apparently, doing something that helps strengthen our positive self-image also makes us less worried about the consequences of immoral behaviour,” he said.
The study also found that when the children were shown videos of “mundane” affronts, such as people bumping and pushing each other, religious kids were more inclined to decide harsh punishment was warranted. Dr Decety said this supported previous findings that organised religion promoted intolerance and punitiveness.
Dr Decety, who identifies as a secular Jew, said the team’s findings supported “solid” sociological and historical evidence that religious people were not necessarily more moral than disbelievers. He said most white opponents of America’s civil rights movement had been religious, while most white supporters had not.
The same applied to South Africa’s apartheid regime, which was supported by devout Christians and Jews and opposed by atheists.
He said the findings contradicted a “common sense notion” equating religiosity with moral behaviour.
“This view is so deeply embedded that individuals who are not religious can be considered morally suspect — especially in the US, (where they) have little chance of being elected to high political office.”
www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/religious-children-meaner-than-agnostic-and-atheist-kids-study-finds/story-e6frg6so-1227597959661
Something that I have observed over my brief existence on the planet ... parroting pious platitudes does not translate into action in very many people.
(How's that for alliteration!)
Religious children meaner than agnostic and atheist kids, study finds
THE AUSTRALIAN NOVEMBER 06, 2015 4:00AM
John Ross
Higher Education Reporter
An international study has found children in religious families are meaner than their godless peers. Source: Supplied
They grow up in wholesome households, raised to love their neighbours, but new research suggests righteous kids are the tightest.
An international study has found children in religious families are meaner than their godless peers. The report, published today in the journal Current Biology, challenges notions that equate piety with charity.
“Religion and morality are two different things,” said lead author Jean Decety, a Chicago University neuroscientist.
“Past research has demonstrated that religious people are no more likely to do good than their non-religious counterparts. Our study goes beyond that, showing that religious people are less generous — not only adults, but children, too.”
In the study, more than 1100 kids aged between five and 12 were asked to share stickers with anonymous schoolmates. The subjects lived in North America, the Middle East, South Africa and China, and included Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and Hindus.
Those from agnostic and atheist households consistently proved less likely to keep the best stickers to themselves. “The more religious the parents, the less altruistic the children, irrespective of the religion,” Dr Decety told The Australian.
He attributed the findings to a phenomenon dubbed “moral licensing”, where people’s perceptions that they were doing good — in this case, practising religion — exempted them from the obligation to perform other worthy deeds. “Apparently, doing something that helps strengthen our positive self-image also makes us less worried about the consequences of immoral behaviour,” he said.
The study also found that when the children were shown videos of “mundane” affronts, such as people bumping and pushing each other, religious kids were more inclined to decide harsh punishment was warranted. Dr Decety said this supported previous findings that organised religion promoted intolerance and punitiveness.
Dr Decety, who identifies as a secular Jew, said the team’s findings supported “solid” sociological and historical evidence that religious people were not necessarily more moral than disbelievers. He said most white opponents of America’s civil rights movement had been religious, while most white supporters had not.
The same applied to South Africa’s apartheid regime, which was supported by devout Christians and Jews and opposed by atheists.
He said the findings contradicted a “common sense notion” equating religiosity with moral behaviour.
“This view is so deeply embedded that individuals who are not religious can be considered morally suspect — especially in the US, (where they) have little chance of being elected to high political office.”
www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/religious-children-meaner-than-agnostic-and-atheist-kids-study-finds/story-e6frg6so-1227597959661
