Oya Serbest

Presentation Title

Early biases in faith: A comparative study of Turkish and American children

Abstract

Children expect different behaviors from various religious groups (Heiphetz et al., 2013) and tend to believe that in-groups are more likely to follow norms (Liberman et al., 2018). Our study explores whether children expect atheists to violate norms more than theists, and whether these expectations vary based on culture and family religiosity. We asked 6- to 12-year-olds in Turkey (N=73) and the US (N=201) which of two characters (theist vs. atheist) had broken a social norm. Linear mixed model (LMM) analysis revealed an early bias associating atheism with norm violations. Regardless of family religiosity, children in both cultures generally believed that atheists are more likely to break norms than theists.

Our findings also highlight a significant effect of socialization. In both cultures, younger children's expectations varied based on family religiosity, but this variability decreased with age, leading to more homogeneous expectations among older children. Specifically, as they grew older, less religious Turkish children were more likely to expect norm violations from atheists, while more religious American children were less likely to do so, aligning their views with those of their peers. This suggests that as children age, they are socialized into a broader cultural mindset, though the impact of this socialization differs between cultures.

In sum, these results indicate that children may develop early biases toward specific religious groups, regardless of their cultural or familial background but further research is needed to understand the experiences that shape this socialization process.