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Religion is natural
Author(s) -
Bloom Paul
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
developmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.801
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1467-7687
pISSN - 1363-755X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00577.x
Subject(s) - dualism , psychology , relevance (law) , natural (archaeology) , religious belief , epistemology , social psychology , developmental psychology , philosophy , archaeology , political science , law , history
Despite its considerable intellectual interest and great social relevance, religion has been neglected by contemporary developmental psychologists. But in the last few years, there has been an emerging body of research exploring children's grasp of certain universal religious ideas. Some recent findings suggest that two foundational aspects of religious belief – belief in mind–body dualism, and belief in divine agents – come naturally to young children. This research is briefly reviewed, and some future directions are discussed.