Children's Theories of God: Explanations for Difficult-to-Explain Phenomena

Participants in 3 age groups (preschoolers, 3rd graders, and college students) generated explanations for various phenomena. Participants with higher levels of religious involvement provided more attributions to God than participants with lower levels of religious involvement. Also, older participants provided more attributions to God than younger participants. The results suggest that individuals who have higher levels of religious involvement develop theorylike understanding based on their conception of God. It appears that this theorylike understanding has explanatory utility that increases with age.