ERIC Number: EJ931692
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0009-3920
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Does God Make It Real? Children's Belief in Religious Stories from the Judeo-Christian Tradition
Vaden, Victoria Cox; Woolley, Jacqueline D.
Child Development, v82 n4 p1120-1135 Jul-Aug 2011
Four- to 6-year-old children (N = 131) heard religious or nonreligious stories and were questioned about their belief in the reality of the story characters and events. Children had low to moderate levels of belief in the characters and events. Children in the religious story condition had higher levels of belief in the reality of the characters and events than did children in the nonreligious condition; this relation strengthened with age. Children who used God as an explanation for the events showed higher levels of belief in the factuality of those events. Story familiarity and family religiosity also affected children's responses. The authors conclude that God's involvement in a story influences children's belief in the reality of the characters and events in that story.
Descriptors: Familiarity, Children, Beliefs, Early Childhood Education, Responses, Christianity, Young Children, Religion, Religious Factors, Story Reading, Story Telling, Folk Culture
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A