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The Development ofthe Concept of God inChildrenW Chad Nye a & Jerry S Carlson ba Department of Psychology , Point LomaCollege , USAb Department of Education , University ofCalifornia , Riverside , USAPublished online: 11 Sep 2012.

To cite this article: W Chad Nye & Jerry S Carlson (1984) The Developmentof the Concept of God in Children, The Journal of Genetic Psychology:Research and Theory on Human Development, 145:1, 137-142, DOI:10.1080/00221325.1984.10532259

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The Journal of Genetic Psychology, Volume 145, First Half, September 1984

The Development of the Concept of God in Children

W. CHAD NYE Department of Psychology

Point Loma College

JERRY S. CARLSON Department of Education

University of California, Riverside

ABSTRACT. The purpose of the present study was to determine if the development of the concept of God in children is compatible with general cognitive stage develop­ment. 5s were 180 children, 5-16 years of age, representing three religious orienta­tions. Each child responded to a series of questions in a clinical-interview format. The results indicate that the development of the concept of God in children parallels Piaget's general stages of cognitive development. The significance of these findings is discussed in terms of the differentiation of religious training/orientation.

THE SUBJECT OF the child's conception of religion and religious figures has received a measure of attention in the religious and psychological literature in recent times. Much of the work has been approached from a Piagetian perspective, demonstrating a clear relationship between Piaget's theory of cognitive development and the development of religious concepts (1,4, 12).

In a classic study designed to assess the universality of religious development in children, Harms (7) asked over 4,800 children from various religious backgrounds to draw a picture of God or "the highest ideal ex-

We wish to thank the following school administrators for their assistance in the recruitment and scheduling of subjects: Sister Mary Julie, Sacred Hart Academy; Dr. Ralph Lyons, Southland School District; Dr. Michael Haelzel, San Diego Jewish Academy; and Mrs. Pearl Salomon, Jewish Community Center. We also wish to ex­press our appreciation to Kalhy Keys for her assistance in the data collection.

Requests for reprints should be sent to Jerry S. Carlson, Department of Educa­tion, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521.

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138 THE JOURNAL OF GENETIC PSYCHOLOGY

pressed in religion.'' He found religious development to be differentiated in three major stages: (a) Fairy-tale (3r6years), (b) realistic stage (7-12 years), and (c) individualistic stage (13-18 years).

Deconchy (2) utilized a free association task to investigate the develop­ment of the child's idea of God. Using the word "God" as one of five stimulus words, he evaluated the responses of over 4,700 5s between the ages of 7 and 16 years. A three-stage organization of development was found. The stages parallel concrete and formal operations levels. Since Deconchy did not have 5s below 7 years of age, no judgment was made regarding the preoperational stage and the child's concept of God.

One of the most controversial works in modern religious education is that of Goldman (5, 6). He assessed the general "readiness" of children to acquire certain religious concepts by having children respond to his Picture and Story Religious Test, a test consisting of three pictures and three Bible stories. The results of the investigation are similar to those of Deconchy. They reveal a three-stage differentiation in the child's development of re­ligious thinking closely aligned with Piaget's stages of cognitive development.

The significance of Goldman's (5) stage delineation lies in its applica­tion to religious education. He suggested that children should not receive formal Bible instruction before 10 or 11 years of age. This position was de­fended with the argument that religious thinking is formed at a very abstract level and beyond the young child's developmental ability.

The purpose of the present study was to assess the progression of the development of the concept of God in children between the ages of 5 and 16 years, representing differing religious affiliations. The semiclinical inter­view (3, 4, 10, 11) was used. The study was designed to determine if the socialization influence of formal religious instruction would reveal distinc­tions in children's development of the concept of God. Specifically, the fol­lowing questions guided the research:

1. Are there stages of specific progression in the development of the child's concept of God that approximate the general cognitive stages suggested by Piaget and others?

2. If so, what are the stage characteristics and age parameters that might differentiate children from different religious backgrounds?

Method

The 5s were 180 children, 5 to 16 years of age equally divided into Protes­tant, Catholic, and Jewish. Males and females were approximately equally represented. All children were involved in formal religious training.

The following 13 basic questions were asked in individual interviews lasting approximately 5-10 minutes: Where does God come from? What does God look like? Where does God live? Where did God get his name?

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Nye & Carlson 139

Does God have a family? Does God get mad? Does God know who you are? Can God see and hear you? How old is God? Is God like a person? What are some things God cannot do? What are some things God can do? If you had to compare God to one person you know, who would it be? The ques­tions followed no specific order but were used to initiate a dialogue between the examiner and child on a given topic.

The examiner transcribed all verbal responses verbatim. Responses to these basic questions served as a foundation for further comparative inquiry and probing. For example, when the examiner asked, "Where does God live?" a frequent response for the younger children was "Up in the sky." The examiner would then ask, "Where in the sky?" and the child's responses were recorded. This technique continued until the answers became repetitive or the child indicated he or she was unable to respond fur­ther to the question.

The verbatim responses of each child were listed across the 12 age levels represented in the sample. The Ss' responses were classified as either con­crete (Level I) or abstract (Level II). This distinction was made on an a priori basis. A concrete (Level I) response was identified as being tangible, visible, or measurable. An abstract (Level II) response was identified as more general, not related to specific descriptors. For example, a concrete response to the question "What does God look like?" was "Brown hair, blue eyes." An abstract response to the same question was "No one knows, no one has ever seen him."

Results

Global Assessment

For each of the 13 questions, two persons independently categorized re­sponses at Level I or Level II for each of the religious groups interviewed. Agreement was obtained in 92% of the cases. The remaining 8% were dis­cussed and categorization was made by agreement of the judges. The signif­icance of the relationship for the age x level of response interaction was tested by chi-square tests for each religious group. This analysis revealed significant differences between Level I and Level II responses on all ques­tions for the Protestant children, all but three questions for the Catholic group, and all but five of the questions for the Jewish group.

Developmental Assessment

In order to confront the issue of the developmental nature of the concept of God in children, a post hoc multiple comparison in sample proportions for tests of homogeneity (8) was conducted to assess the proportion of Level I

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and Level II type responses. Since Level II responses were defined as being more 6'abstract'' in nature, all comparisons are reported in terms of the proportions of Level II responses.

In order to assess the overall developmental construct of the concept of God in children, a comparison of the proportions of Level II responses was conducted for the combined production of all 5s, for all questions, at each age level. These comparisons are shown in Figure 1. Significant differences (p < .05) between the lower age group (5-8 years) and each of the two older groups (9-12 and 13-16 years) were detected.

A second comparison was conducted in order to assess the more general developmental aspects of the God concept for each religious group. Thus, Level II type responses at each age level for the combined 13 ques­tions were compared across religious groups. For the 5- to 8-year age level, the Jewish children responded with significantly (p < .05) more Level II type responses than the Protestant children. No other comparisons were significant for any other age group.

Discussion

It seems as though the developmental aspect of a child's concept of God is consistent with Piaget's general model of cognitive development. That is, the younger children were significantly less abstract in their expressions of the concept of God than were children in the two older groups. A parallel may be noted here between the early stages of the concrete operational thought and the formal operation stage of cognitive development. The development of the concept of God in children, even within a consistent religious training environment (religious school) follows a developmental pattern that seems to be congruent to general developmental patterns. These findings are consistent with the stage progression suggested in previous in­vestigations (2, 5, 7), generally substantiating the developmental aspects in­volved. In the present study, for example, the older children gave a preponderance of Level II or abstract responses. Deconchy (2) views such responses as an attempt by the child to reconcile the attributes of God with a more conceptual and practical view of God. The present data also suggest that more abstract expressions of the God concept are largely age depend­ent, reflecting more of a developmental effect than a religious orientation effect. As can be seen in Figure 1, the two older groups tend to be quite similar in the abstract conceptualization of God, as well as significantly more abstract than the younger children for each religious group.

If there is a developmental component that regulates the level of understanding of the God concept, the question of the significance of train­ing inherent in religious orientations that differentiate religious groups becomes significant. For example, are Protestant children any more

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FIGURE 1 Proportion of Level II Responses

5 - 8 9-12 13-16

PROTESTANT 5-8 9-12 13-16

CATHOLIC 5-8 9-12 13-16

JEWISH

abstract than Catholic or Jewish children in terms of their expression of their concept of God? The present results indicate that only the Jewish children at the 5- to 8-year age group differ from the Protestant and Catholic children. No differences between religious groups were otherwise found. The general lack of differentiation between religious groups was an unexpected finding, as it was expected that children trained or reared in a particular religious faith would demonstrate some of the unique characteristics of that religious orientation.

The significant differences detected between the younger and older children also support Goldman's (5, 6) view that children under 10 or 11 years of age are unable to formulate an abstract conceptual framework demanded for an adequate concept of God. The low proportion of abstract responses given by the younger children provides a measure of support for the idea that formal instruction on the concept of God is not advantageous.

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The finding that religious orientation does not yield differential results for the younger children does not necessarily imply that religious instruction is ineffective or unwarranted. What it does suggest is that the effects of religious instruction are dependent on the child's general level of cognitive development; i.e., the understanding of the concept of God is limited by the child's level of cognitive growth.

REFERENCES

1. Ballard, S. N., & Fleck, J. R. The teaching of religious concepts: A three stage model. J. Psychol. & Theol., 1975, 3, 164-171.

2. Deconchy, J. P. The idea of God: Its emergence between 7 and 16 years. In A. Godin (Ed.), From Religious Experience to a Religious Attitude. Brussels, Belgium: Lumen Vitae Press, 1965.

3. Elkind, D. The study of spontaneous religion of the child. / . for Scientific Study Relig., 1964,4,40-46.

4. Fleck, J. R., Ballard, S. M., & Reilly, J. W. The development of religious con­cepts and maturity: A three stage model. J. Psychol. & Theol., 1975,3,156-163.

5. Goldman, R. Religious Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence. New York: Seabury Press, 1964.

6. . Readiness for Religion. New York: Seabury Press, 1965. 7. Harms, E. The development of religious experience in children. Amer. J.

Sociol., 1944,50, 112-122. 8. Marascuilo, L. A., & McSweeney, M. Nonparametric and Distribution-free

Methods for the Social Sciences. Monterey, CA.: Brooks/Cole, 1977. 9. Piaget, J. Judgement and Reasoning in the Child. London: Routledge & Kegan

Paul, 1928. 10. . The Child's Conception of the World. London: Routledge & Kegan

Paul, 1929. 11. . The Child's Conception of Physical Causality. London: Routledge &

Kegan Paul, 1930. 12. Williams, R. A theory of God-concept readiness: From the Piagetian theories of

child artificialism and the origin of religious feeling in children. Relig. Educ, 1971, 66, 62-66.

Received June 16, 1983

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