Acceptance of Evolution and Support for Teaching Creationism in Public Schools: The Conditional Impact of Educational Attainment

Public acceptance of evolution remains low in the United States relative to other Western countries. Although advocates for the scientific community often highlight the need for improved education to change public opinion, analyses of data from a national sample of American adults indicate that the effects of educational attainment on attitudes toward evolution and creationism are uneven and contingent upon religious identity. Consequently, higher education will only shift public attitudes toward evolution and away from support for teaching creationism in public schools for those who take non‐“literalist” interpretive stances on the Bible, or to the extent that it leads to fewer people with literalist religious identities.     

Mosque-Based Emotional Support Among Young Muslim Americans

Despite a growing literature on social support networks in religious settings (i.e., church-based social support), little is known about mosque-based support among Muslims. This study investigates the demographic and religious behavior correlates of mosque-based social support among a multi-racial and ethnic sample of 231 young Muslims from southeast Michigan. Several dimensions of mosque-based support are examined including receiving emotional support, giving emotional support, anticipated emotional support and negative interactions with members of one’s mosque. Results indicated that women both received and anticipated receiving greater support than did men. Higher educational attainment was associated with receiving and giving less support compared to those with the lowest level of educational attainment. Moreover, highly educated members reported fewer negative interactions than less educated members. Mosque attendance and level of congregational involvement positively predicted receiving, giving, and anticipated emotional support from congregants, but was unrelated to negative interactions. Overall, the study results converge with previously established correlates of church-based emotional support.     

Religious Commitment,Attitudes Toward Suicide,and Suicidal Behaviors Among College Students of Different Ethnic and Religious Groups in Malaysia

The variation in suicide patterns across ethnic groups with different religious background is a puzzling social phenomenon. This study sought to examine the impact of religious commitment and attitudes toward suicide on suicidal behaviors of college students across major ethnic and religious groups in a multicultural society of Malaysia. A total of 139 college students completed Religious Commitment Inventory-10, Attitudes Toward Suicide Scale, and Suicidal Behavior Questionnaire-Revised. Findings showed significant discrepancies in attitudes toward suicide, but not suicidal behaviors across ethnic and religious groups. Suicide acceptance significantly affected suicidal behaviors as well. Although religious commitment is not associated with suicidal behaviors, its deviation is reflected in students’ acceptance of suicide. Additionally, college students’ suicide risk, lifetime, and recent suicide ideation, as well as their likelihood of future suicide attempt can be associated with their acceptance of suicide. The influence of attitudes toward suicide and religion, therefore, should be taken into consideration while implementing suicide prevention programs as it helps shape the norms about suicide among youths.     

Specifying the Impact of Conservative Protestantism on Educational Attainment

Recent studies have demonstrated that conservative Protestantism negatively affects educational advancement. However, these studies have treated conservative Protestantism as a monolithic religious bloc that uniformly constrains achieving higher education. Disaggregating conservative Protestantism into fundamentalists, Pentecostals, and evangelicals reveals that the relationship between conservative Protestantism and educational attainment is more complex than recently shown. Findings from a nationally representative sample of Americans show that fundamentalists and Pentecostals are generally less likely to be college educated relative to other religious groups and nonreligious affiliates. The findings also show that not only are evangelicals more likely to be college educated than fundamentalists and Pentecostals, but with the exception of Jews, they are as likely or more likely than other religious groups and nonreligious affiliates to be college educated. This article suggests that different cultural traditions explain the variation in educational attainment among conservative Protestants .     

Educational Attainment and Cohort Change Among Conservative Protestants, 1972–2004

A growing literature examines how conservative Protestants have made status gains relative to mainline Protestants over the past three decades. The results of these studies are inconclusive: by some measures conservative Protestants have achieved socioeconomic parity, in other accounts significant discrepancies remain. This article examines the relationship between religion of origin and educational attainment, highlighting the significance of both religious background (rather than adult affiliations) and cohort change in understanding religious stratification. The findings are somewhat mixed: while conservative Protestants born since 1960 are no less likely to finish high school than their mainline counterparts, the negative effect of a conservative Protestant background on college completion remains virtually unchanged for cohorts born before 1940, between 1940 and 1959, and between 1960 and 1972, even when controlling for family background. Conservative Protestants are keeping pace with the educational gains made by mainline Protestants in the postwar era, but other factors associated with a conservative Protestant background still exert a negative influence on educational attainment.     

Fostering Mutual Understanding Among Muslims and Non-Muslims Through Counterstereotypical Information: An Educational versus Metacognitive Approach

Fostering interfaith tolerance may help to reduce religious tensions. The authors examined the attitudes of Christians, Muslims, and people with no religious affiliation toward different religions and explored whether their negative attitudes toward other faiths could be ameliorated. Participants (N = 298) were asked about their attitudes toward Judaism, Christianity, and Islam before they were randomly assigned to either a metacognitive intervention or an educational intervention. Information was conveyed in a simple narrative form in the educational condition. In the metacognitive condition, participants were first asked apparently simple questions that frequently elicited incorrect responses. This was followed by corrective information. Both Christian and Muslim participants appraised their own religion as the most peaceful and tolerant. The educational approach was more effective in reducing stereotypes about Islam among non-Muslims, whereas the metacognitive approach was more successful in lessening prejudice about Christianity among Muslims. Muslims displayed overconfidence in their responses related to religious topics.     

Religious Commitment and its Relation to Happiness among Muslim Students: The Educational Level as Moderator

This study examines the relationship between religiosity and level of happiness in an Islamic context among Muslim students studying at Malaysian universities. The determinants of happiness included in this research are positive attitudes, self-esteem, and other-esteem. Religiosity has long been considered as the main determinant in increasing happiness, and educational level strengthens its relationship. For this purpose, the researchers sampled 230 Muslim students aged 17–40 years studying at Malaysian universities in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The study found a positive and significant correlation between religious commitment and level of happiness. Religious commitment also shows positive and significant correlations with positive attitudes, self-esteem, and other-esteem. The study also concludes that educational attainment moderates the relationship between religious commitment and happiness. Thus, religious commitment plays a very important role in increasing levels of happiness.

     

Faith and Understanding: Specifying the Impact of Higher Education on Religious Belief

This study examines the impact of educational enrollment and attainment on several measures of religious belief using nationally representative panel data. Although college does not appear to substantially alter the religious beliefs of most emerging adults, findings do reveal a modest increase in skepticism toward super‐empirical religious beliefs among college students and graduates compared to those who have never attended any form of postsecondary education. This effect is dependent on college type, with students attending elite universities exhibiting the greatest increase in skepticism. Apart from changes in super‐empirical belief, graduating from college modestly increases preferences for institutionalized religion while simultaneously reducing adherence to exclusivist religious belief. Faculty commitment to secularism, the degree of student academic engagement, and developing social identities may play a role in religious belief change, particularly at elite universities.     

Religious identity and educational attainment among recent immigrants to Canada: Gender, age, and 2nd generation

Using data from Canadian decennial censuses, this article explores the relationship of religious identity and educational attainment among post-1970 immigrants to Canada and their Canadian-born offspring. Immigrants have higher levels of educational attainment than the Canadian average, but in the first generation men have higher levels than women in each religious category, and Sikhs and Buddhists are on average significantly less well educated. These differences diminish in the younger immigrants and disappear in the second generation. Here women are consistently better educated than men, and no religion stands out. Yet the high educational levels among immigrants do not correspond to income levels. Muslims are particularly disadvantaged in this regard.     

Religiosity and attitudes towards professional mental health services: analysing religious coping as a mediator among Mexican origin Latinas/os in the southwest United States

In this study, we examined the relationship between religiosity and attitudes towards professional mental health services. We further examined whether internal religious coping and external religious coping mediated both relationships. Results indicated a significant association with religiosity and negative attitudes towards mental health services, as well as external religious coping and internal religious coping. Results also showed a nonsignificant association with both religious coping and negative attitudes towards mental health services. Finally, external religious coping mediated the relationship between religiosity and negative attitudes towards mental health services for men but not for women.     

Teachers’ attitudes toward homosexuality and the lesbian,gay, bisexual,and queer community in the United States

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) students are a substantial minority group within U.S. elementary, middle, and high schools. Many LGBQ students face harassment and discrimination, which can contribute to educational and psychological problems. Teachers play key roles in students’ school experiences, and their attitudes about homosexuality can influence their behavior toward LGBQ students. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of teachers’ positive and negative LGBQ-related attitudes, potential changes in attitudes over time, and demographic and social variables that may be related to teachers’ attitudes. This study uses data from 305 pre-kindergarten through 12th grade teachers, collected in waves 2006–2014 of the General Social Survey. Results indicate that teachers’ attitudes toward homosexuality have become more favorable over time; however, many teachers still hold negative attitudes. Just under half of teachers exhibited at least one negative LGBQ-related attitude. Age, political conservativeness, religious attendance, and carryover of religious beliefs were significantly associated with negative LGBQ attitudes. Teachers with a fundamentalist religious orientation tended to have more negative attitudes about homosexuality than teachers with more progressive religious orientations. Negative attitudes were more often found among teachers of color, compared to White teachers, and teachers in the South, Midwest, and Mountain regions tended toward more negative attitudes than teachers in the Northeast and Pacific regions. Teachers have an ethical responsibility to see that all students, regardless of sexual orientation, receive a quality education. Education and training are needed to address problematic attitudes that may negatively affect LGBQ students.

     

Changes in religious attitudes and behaviors of Euro-Turk students with theology education

This paper studied a new dimension of international students, who are citizens of another country but came back to Turkey for religious education where their parents or grandparents are citizens. Did a five-year religious education process based on the main sources of Islam lead to a change in these students' religious attitudes and behaviors, and if yes to what extent did these changes occur? A panel survey is conducted on these students in pre-education and post-education periods to answer this question. Without ignoring the effect of the social environment outside of education on religious attitudes, we found that students exhibit a more tolerant, nonstrict attitude toward both their coreligionists and those who have negative attitudes toward their religion. Additionally, in parallel with the deepening of religious knowledge, a questioning and critical perspective was formed with a decrease in superstitions. We found that the attitude change in female students was generally higher than that of male students.     

The intergenerational transmission of ethnic essentialism: how parents talk counts the most

The present study analyzed the role of parents as potential sources of children's essentialist beliefs about ethnicity. We tested 76 parent–child (5‐year‐olds) dyads of Jewish Israeli parents from three social groups, defined by the kindergartens children attended: national religious, secular, or Jewish‐Arab integrated. We assessed parents' and children's beliefs, and parents' usage of ethnic attitudinal and categorization markers in a book‐reading activity. Overall, national religious parents manifested the strongest ethnic essentialism and endorsement of anti‐negotiations with Palestinians, and were the most likely to express negative attitudes and mark ethnic categories in their conversations with their children. Moreover, regression analyses revealed that ethnic categorization in parents' speech was the most reliable predictor of children's ethnic essentialism. Ethnic essentialism is transmitted to children not via explicit communication of intergroup beliefs or attitudes, but rather via the sheer marking of categories in ways that resonate with children's own intuitive ways of conceptualizing the social world.     

‘The trouble with Year 10’. 13 – 16 year old school students’ attitudes to higher education

This study looked at the impact of Widening Participation interventions on the attitudes of young people towards higher education. A total of 2731 adolescents aged 13–16 years completed a self-report measure of their attitudes to higher education, general and academic self concept and identification with school, family and peers. This was matched with data on the students’ academic attainment and social backgrounds. As expected, attainment scores were significantly positively correlated with take up of Widening Participation activities aimed at increasing participation in higher education, attitudes towards going to university and academic motivation. However, attainment was negatively correlated with perceptions of family attending university and identification with family. Regression analyses found that perceptions of family views about attending university were not a predictor of taking part in Widening Participation activities but were a predictor of attitudes towards higher education. Students in Year 10 aged 14–15 were significantly more negative on most factors than either older or younger students.     

Ambitious mothers – successful daughters: Mothers' early expectations for children's education and children's earnings and sense of control in adult life

Background . Mothers' expectations for their children's educational attainment are related to children's educational and occupational attainment. Studies have yet to establish, however, the long‐term links between maternal expectations and offspring earnings, which are not always related to occupational attainment especially in women, or between maternal expectations and offspring sense of control and self‐efficacy, which are pivotal factors in career choice and development. Aims . To explore the role of mothers' expectations for their children's educational attainment in children's earnings attainment and sense of control later in life. Method . Data from sweeps of the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) were used. The study sample was those cohort members with complete information on all the variables of interest. The study sample (N = 3,285) was more educated and less disadvantaged than the whole sample. If cohort members of this type are more likely to have a mother who has high expectations, then our results are biased downwards, which suggests that we underestimate the effect of expectations on our two outcome variables. Results . Mothers' expectations at the age of 10 were positively related to daughters' sense of control at the age of 30 even after controlling for ethnicity, educational attainment, and concurrent partner, parent, and labour market participation status, as well as the following confounding variables (measured at the ages of 0–10): general ability and general ability squared, locus of control, emotional and behavioural problems and emotional and behavioural problems squared, socio‐economic disadvantage, parental social class, parental family structure, and mothers' education, child‐rearing attitudes, and mental health. Mothers' expectations had no effect on sons' adult outcomes. Conclusions . Given that women are particularly at risk for poor psychological and economic outcomes in adulthood, and that this study likely underestimated the effect of expectations on these two outcomes, this is an important conclusion.     

The Relationship between Socio-demographic Characteristics, Family Environment, and Caregiver Coping in Families of Children with Cancer

The factors that influence caregiver coping mechanism preferences after a child’s diagnosis with cancer are not fully understood. This study examines the relationship between caregivers’ socio-demographic characteristics and the coping strategies they use to adapt to childhood cancer. Sixty caregivers of pediatric cancer patients completed a socio-demographic questionnaire, the Family Environment Scale, and the COPE inventory. There were no significant differences in family environment by income or education. Caregiver educational attainment was positively associated with use of planning and active coping styles, while income was not associated with caregiver coping style. Mothers were more likely than fathers to use active coping, instrumental support, religious coping, and emotional support. Men with lower education engaged in greater substance use coping and lower planning. The findings show that educational attainment and caregiver gender influence caregiver coping styles following a pediatric cancer diagnosis and suggest that educational attainment rather than financial resources drive the association between SES and coping. Programs that address educational gaps and teach caregivers planning and active coping skills may be beneficial for parents with lower educational attainment, particularly men.     

The Effect of Religious‐Based Mentoring on Educational Attainment: More than Just a Spiritual High?

Although research has found a positive relationship between various forms of adolescent religious involvement and educational outcomes, little research has examined connections to educational attainment. Using a nationally representative sample of youth (the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health—Add Health), we examine the extent to which adolescent religiosity facilitates educational attainment (i.e., high school completion and college enrollment) and whether informal mentorships formed during adolescence with religious and nonreligious adults can help explain the link between adolescent religious involvement and educational attainment. The findings confirm that, like academic outcomes, religious youth are more likely to complete high school and enroll in college even when controlling for other individual and interpersonal factors that affect educational attainment. Furthermore, informal mentorships, particularly those with adults who have official religious positions (e.g., priest, minister, rabbi) play an important role in college enrollment.     

Traditional God Images and Attitudes Towards Voluntary Euthanasia

I use data from the General Social Survey (N = 8905) to evaluate whether imagining God in traditional ways is associated with attitudes towards voluntary euthanasia. Bivariate analysis reveals that individuals who imagine God as a father, a master, and a king have negative attitudes towards voluntary euthanasia. The associations between imagining God as a father and as a master and attitudes towards voluntary euthanasia hold after controlling for religious affiliation, frequency of religious attendance, views of the Bible, and other sociodemographic characteristics that predict attitudes towards voluntary euthanasia; however, the association between imagining God as a king do not. I also find that while there is no association between imagining God as a judge on voluntary euthanasia attitudes at the bivariate level, there is a significant and positive association with having favorable voluntary euthanasia attitudes in the full model, revealing a suppression effect. These findings highlight the importance of evaluating if different, distinct beliefs about the same religious object have differential associations with social attitudes and behaviors.     

Social status,cognitive ability,and educational attainment as predictors of liberal social attitudes and political trust

We examined the prospective associations between family socio-economic background, childhood intelligence (g) at age 11, educational and occupational attainment, and social attitudes at age 33 in a large (N = 8804), representative sample of the British population born in 1958. Structural equation Modeling identified a latent trait of ‘liberal social attitudes’ underlying attitude factors that are antiracist, socially liberal, and in support of gender equality. Another attitude factor—‘political trust’—was relatively independent from the latent attitude trait and has somewhat different pathways in relation to the other variables included in the analysis. There was a direct association between higher g at age 11 and more liberal social attitudes and political trust at age 33. For both men and women the association between g and liberal social attitudes was partly mediated via educational qualifications, and to a much lesser extent via adult occupational attainment. For women the association between g and political trust was partly mediated through both educational qualification and occupational attainment, and for men it was mediated mainly via occupational attainment. Men and women who had higher educational qualifications and higher occupational status tend to be more socially liberal and more trusting of the democratic political system. In terms of socio-economic background, people from less privileged families showed less political trust, but did not differ much in liberal social attitudes from those born into relatively more privileged circumstances. This study shows that social background, cognitive ability, education, and own social status influence perceptions of society.     

Parental interest in children's education,children's self‐esteem and locus of control,and later educational attainment: Twenty‐six year follow‐up of the 1970 British Birth Cohort

Background. Few studies have investigated if mother's interest and father's interest in child's education are linked to educational attainment via their impact on child's self‐esteem and locus of control. Aims. (1) To investigate (after controlling for known confounding factors) the long‐term effect of mother's and father's interest in child's education at age 10 and child's locus of control and self‐esteem at age 10 in educational attainment at age 26; and (2) to explore if mother's interest and father's interest in child's education are linked to child's educational attainment via their effect in increasing child's self‐esteem and internal locus of control. Sample. The study used longitudinal data from sweeps of the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70). The initial sample was those 1,737 men and 2,033 women with valid data on age 10 self‐esteem, locus of control, father's interest, mother's interest, and age 26 educational attainment. Of these, 1,326 men and 1,578 women were included in the final analysis. Method. The birth to age 10 factors that were controlled for were birth weight, parental social class, socio‐economic disadvantage, emotional/behavioural problems, cognitive ability, and mother's educational attainment. Results. At the multivariate level, internal locus of control and mother's interest (but not self‐esteem) were significantly related to educational attainment in both men and women. Father's interest was a significant predictor of educational attainment only in women. Parent's interest was not linked to educational attainment via its impact on child's self‐esteem or locus of control. Self‐esteem predicted educational attainment in both genders by increasing internal locus of control, and fathers' interest predicted educational attainment in men by increasing mother's involvement. Conclusion. Although mothers' and fathers' interest in their children's education were not linked to educational attainment via their impact on children's self‐esteem or locus of control, they were significant predictors of educational attainment especially in daughters.