From the journal Current Biology this research continues the disputes about the relationship of religion and morality: “Parents in religious households reported that their children expressed more empathy and sensitivity for justice in everyday life than non-religious parents. However, religiousness was inversely predictive of children’s altruism and positively correlated with their punitive tendencies. Together these results reveal the similarity across countries in how religion negatively influences children’s altruism, challenging the view that religiosity facilitates prosocial behavior.” Students can assess this research for its conceptualization, operationalization, then consider various assumptions about religious ideation, moralism, altruism, and the nature of sin. See also GetReligion.
