Development of Religious Thinking in Adolescence: A Test of Goldman's Theories

Author(s): R. Hoge and Gregory H. Petrillo

Source: Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 17, No. 2 (Jun., 1978), pp. 139-154
Published by: Wiley on behalf of Society for the Scientific Study of Religion
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Development of Religious
Thinking in Adolescence:A
Test of Goldman's Theories*
DEAN R. HOGE
GREGORY H. PETRILLO

Boys Town Center

Catholic University of America
Washington, D. C. 20064

Goldman's hypothesized factors for facilitating or impeding development of religious

thinking were assessed using data from 10th graders in suburban Catholic, Baptist, and
Methodist churches. The role of overall cognitive capacity was less than Goldman suggested, and
the role of religious training was greater. The impact of religious education varied widely across
denominations. Goldman's theory that a gap between concrete religious thinking and higher-
level cognitive functioning in other areas tends to producefaith rejection was not supported;the
results, except for the private school Catholics, were just the opposite-more abstract religious
thinking is associated with greater rejection of doctrine and the church.

M ost study of the development of religious thinking has been grounded in the
thought of Jean Piaget. The expansion of Piagetian thought into the area of religion
has been stimulated especially by Ronald Goldman.' Goldman (1964; 1965) adopted
the overall Piagetian outline of three levels of thought (pre-operational, concrete
operations, and formal operations) and Piagetian interview methods. Working
partly from earlier research on religious thinking (e.g., Harms 1944; Hyde, 1961), he
developed a structured interview usable with children and youth based on three Bible
stories and three religious pictures. Among British children age 6 to 17 he found a
developmental sequence including an intuitive stage, a concrete operational stage,
and a formal or abstract operational stage. The change from the second to the third
occurred usually between ages 13 and 14'/2.
Goldman found great variation in levels and types of religious thinking at any
chronological age, and he spent much effort in delineating factors accelerating or
impeding its development. He clearly distinguished levels of cognitive capacity from
levels of customary thinking in particular subject areas.

*Financial support came from the Boys Town Center for the Study of Youth Development, Catholic
University. Wewouldlike to thank John Peatling and Donald Ploch for assistance and Ronald Goldman for
helpful comments on an earlier draft.

1. More recent research has been done on moral development than on development of religious thinking,
though the fields are related. For reviews see Perry (1970) and Lickona (1976.)
© Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 1978, 17 (2): 139-154 139

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140 JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION

"It must not be thought that once a child achieves a certain level of thinking he functions always
at that level. There are frequent regressions, as in adults, to simpler modes of thinking where the
problemis too great or the thinker is tired or poorly motivated. Thereis also evidenceto show that
the child performs at different levels in differing subjects or areas, depending upon his experience
and the extent to which he is motivated" (1964: 21).

Religious thinking cannot advance beyond overall cognitive capacity in gen-

eral; on the contrary, it often lags behind overall capacity in making the transition
from concrete to abstract operations. Goldman agreed with Harms' conclusion that
"the entire religious development of the child has a much slower tempo than the
development of any other field of his experience" (1944:120). Why is this? Goldman
discussed nine possible factors. (1) "Negative emotional behavior" influences
religious thought. By this he meant strongly-held attitudes and beliefs not open to
inspection and not tolerant of any thoughts seeming to threaten them. For example,
he mentioned racial prejudice and beliefs about the authority of the Bible (1964: 31).
(2) Interest or motivation in any subject area influences the amount of intellectual
effort a person will expend and hence the growth of his thinking in the area (p. 209).
(3) Group attitudes influence an individual, and this is especially true of peer
influences on adolescents. (4) Chronological age (as distinguished from mental age)
is important insofar as it may be an indicator of wider experiences; it is the
experiences, not the age itself, which is important. (5) Attendance at church or
Sunday school is a factor influencing motivation and interest (p. 210). (6) Type of
religious education is a factor. Goldman found that many Sunday school teachers
resisted introducing the idea that the Bible is not literal history, since they were
afraid to tamper with the "innocent faith of the young" (1964: 154). But Goldman
disagreed, arguing that religious thinking must develop cognitively just like
development in other areas. (7) Attitudes of parents toward religion affect
motivation and influence children to conform to parental desires. (8) Bible reading
and prayer habits are probably a factor, though Goldman did not spell out the
linkage. (9) Familiarity with religious material has an indirect effect, probably more
due to its impact on motivation than on religious thinking itself. Goldman concluded
that familiarity with Biblical material usually enhances motivation unless the
children have heard Biblical stories too often and have become bored with them.
These nine factors do not include general cognitive capacity (or intelligence), the
impact of which is assumed. Goldman recognized this, but he was more interested in
the influences causing religious thinking to fall behind the development of general
cognitive capacity.
Goldman made preliminary tests of some of these factors in his sample of 200
British children (1964: 209-13). He used a Guttman scale to measure level of religious
thinking and found that it correlated with frequency of attendance at church or
Sunday school at .25. Also it correlated with a "total religious behavior" measure
made from church or Sunday school attendance, Bible reading, devotions, and
parental religious support at .32. It associated positively with parental church
attendance and parental religious support (no measures of association were
reported). He tested for sex differences and found none. He called for further
multivariate research which could assess these factors more precisely.
Goldman was interested not only in the determinants of level in religious
thinking but also in the effects of a gap between level of religious thinking and level

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RELIGIOUS THINKING IN ADOLESCENCE: GOLDMAN'S THEORIES 141

of thinking in other areas. He theorized that a sizable gap would set the stage for a
rejection, sooner or later, of religion as being childish and simple-minded. He found
that some adolescents who had rejected religion expressed a feeling of betrayal that
they had been led to continue literal and childish beliefs so long.

"The process of literalism seems to continue far too long for the healthy religious development of
young people. They may equate religious belief as uncritical childish acceptance and the only
valid alternative is to jettison the whole structure as rationally untenable" (1964: 115).

In short, the greater the gap between overall capacity for formal operational
thinking and level of religious thinking, the more Goldman expected a major
rejection of religious teachings.

The Workof Peatling and His Associates

Goldman's research was carried forward in several major studies by John

Peatling and his associates. Peatling constructed a paper-and-pencil test of key
Goldman measures, using the same three Bible stories utilized by Goldman (Moses
and the Burning Bush, Crossing the Red Sea, and the Temptations of Jesus). Using
open-ended responses to questions about the stories he constructed the Thinking
About the Bible test (1973; 1974). Following each story are four questions followed by
four possible responses varying from concrete to abstract religious thinking. The test
produces four scores, called Religious Thinking Very Concrete, Religious Thinking
Concrete, Religious Thinking Abstract, and Religious Thinking Very Abstract, each
varying from 12 to 36 but in a fixed-sum system so that they total 96. The last two are
totalled to form a Religious Thinking Total Abstract score-abbreviated RTTA-
varying from 24 to 72. For most purposes the latter is the most useful and reliable
overall measure of level of religious thinking.2
Peatling administered the test to 1994 students in grades 4 through 12 in
Episcopalian schools. The Religious Thinking Total Abstract (hereafter: RTTA)
scores varied linearly by chronological age of the students. The mean RTTA for 9-
year-olds was 46.6; for 12-year-olds it was 48.9; for 15-year-olds it was 52.4; for 18-
year-olds it was 53.2. Peatling (1973: 436) found that abstractness of religious
thinking correlated strongly .53 with age, and .62 with cognitive capacity (IQ) (even
when chronological age was partialled out, the correlation was a rather strong .39).
Mental age and chronological age correlated at .88. Sex was unrelated to level of
religious thinking.
Later Peatling and Laabs (1975) compared nationwide samples of Episcopalian
and Missouri Synod Lutheran students. They found that the Lutheran youth
consistently scored less abstract in thinking than the Episcopalian youth at each
age level. For example, the Lutheran 9th graders scored a mean of 50.87 on RTTA,
2. As part of this project we carried out a validation study of the Thinking About the Bible test (Hoge &
Thompson, 1977)in which we asked 12 professors of psychology and religious education to fill out two copies
of the test, one as if they were maximally concrete thinkers and one as if they were maximally abstract,
following Peatling's definitions (1973). The results were clear. The RTTA scores had a mean of 37.3 for the
"concrete"forms and 58.8 for the "abstract" forms (p < .001). Also the RTTA scores correlated at .99 with
the designated polar ends (concrete = 1, abstract = 2). The RTVA scores correlated at .94 with the designated
polar ends.

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142 JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION

compared with 51.23 for the Episcopalian 9th graders. Peatling and Laabs had no
data for explaining the differences, but they suggested that type of religious training
was a factor. A study of Finnish students (Tamminen, 1976) had findings similar to
the studies of American students; the Finnish subjects had scores falling, for the
most part, between the American Episcopalian and Lutheran samples (see Peatling,
1976).
The present paper reports on research assessing the determinants of level of
religious thinking and also the theory that a gap will produce rejection of religious
training. Our method is a cross-sectional survey. This has advantages and
disadvantages for our purposes, compared with an experimental design. The
advantages are that the survey method permits study of a large number of subjects
selected to be generalizable to larger populations. Also a large range of factors can be
assessed in an exploratory manner at modest cost. The disadvantage is the reduced
ability to make definite statements about causality and direction of causation.
We aspire to utilize the advantages of this method while minimizing the
possibilities of error from any undue claims about causality. The theoretical issues
at this point are not clear-cut, since causality is virtually impossible to prove without
doubt, even in experimental research (see Blalock, 1964: 3ff). In any research design
statements asserting causation from variable A to variable B can be made with more
or less confidence depending of several conditions. Moreconfidence is possible when
A and B covary, when changes in A preceded changes in B, when there is substantial
theoretical warrant to expect A to influence B but not vice versa, and when outside
confounding variables are controlled (see Blalock, 1964: Ch. 1; Stinchcombe, 1968:
31ff). In interpreting the research we speak in causal terms if these conditions appear
to warrant it, and in terms of association if not. Other persons may of course disagree
on whether conditions warrant it at any one time.

METHODS

Sample

In spring 1976 we asked a representative sample of suburban Roman Catholic,

Southern Baptist, and United Methodist churches in the Maryland counties
adjoining Washington, D. C. for their total lists of 10th graders who were sons and
daughters of church members. We enrolled enough churches so the lists exceeded 220
names per denomination (20 Baptist, 10 Methodist). Since the Catholic parishes were
much larger, we enrolled five and sampled from their lists. The target sample
included 241 Catholics, 225 Baptists, and 225 Methodists. We asked the youth to fill
out questionnaires in groups under supervision, and about one-third did so. The rest
we tried to interview at their homes. Each youth was paid $2. We obtained complete
data from 152 Catholics, 151 Baptists, and 148 Methodists (65,68, and 70 percent of
each denomination respectively). We also asked both parents to fill out short
questionnaires; 315 mothers and 284 fathers did so.3
Some bias occurred. More boys than girls refused, and the youth most alienated
3. Due to shortage of space we have put details of sampling, index construction, and data analysis into a
technical appendix available to anyone by writing to us.

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RELIGIOUS THINKING IN ADOLESCENCE: GOLDMAN'S THEORIES 143

from the church refused disproportionately often. The final sample was largely
upper middle class. Mean family income (as reported by fathers) was about $32,900
for the Catholics, $26,500 for the Baptists, and $31,600 for the Methodists. The
percentage of fathers with at least some college education was 83 for the Catholics, 60
for the Baptists, and 75 for the Methodists. The percentage of youth attending public
school was 68 for the Catholics, 98 for the Baptists, and 94 for the Methodists. Mean
age was 16 years, 0 months; 97 percent were white, and 54 percent were female.

Measures of Religious Thinking and

Rejection of Religious Training

For abstractness of religious thinking we used the RTTA score from the
Thinking About the Bible test. In preliminary analysis we also studied the Religious
Thinking Very Abstract (RTVA) score, but since it tended to be less reliable and since
using it uncovered no additional findings, we limit our discussion here to the results
using the RTTA score. RTTA and RTVA correlated at .73. Mean RTTA scores were
51.3 for the Catholics, 49.2 for the Baptists, and 51.3 forthe Methodists (p < .001 by
F-test). All three denominations scored lower in abstract thinking than the
Episcopalian 10th graders studied by Peatling, whose mean RTTA score was 53.7.
Our sample is more comparable with the Lutheran students studied by Laabs,
though a direct comparison is impossible, since he studied no 10th graders. All the
findings are consistent with Peatling and Laabs's suggestion (1975) that
theologically conservative religious education tends to produce more concrete
religious thinking.
To measure rejection of religious training we used five different measures
varying in focus. Two measured rejection of religious doctrine, and three measured
rejection of the church. First was a question "Has there ever been a period in your life
when you reacted either partially or wholly against the beliefs taught you?" Two
responses, "yes" and "no" were given, and the percentage saying yes was 58 among
the Catholics, 53 among the Baptists, and 56 among the Methodists.
Second was a question asking "How do you feel about whether religious
knowledge is different from other knowledge?" Three responses were given, one
which said that religion and science are separate realms, one which said that they do
not conflict, and one which said "Religion is an early form of science and often
conflicts with moder science." The item was scored 2 if the last response was
selected, 1 if the first or second was selected.
Third was a Disapproval of Organized Religion Index made from three items,
each ranging from 1 to 7. A question began by saying "In my experience, organized
religion in general is:" and the three dimensions were (a) a help to human welfare
versus not a help to human welfare; (b) sincerely interested in solving human
problems versus uninterested in solving human problems; and (c) basically sound
and good versus basically unsound, needs total overhauling. A mean of the three
made the index score.4
4. Reliabilities of indices, as measured by Cronbach's alpha, are:Disapproval of Organized Religion Index,
.74; Creedal Assent Index for youth, .85, for mothers, .89, for fathers, .94; Relativism Index for mothers, .71,
for fathers, .77;Family Religious Supervision Index formothers, .76, forfathers, .77;Devotionalism Index for
youth, .85; Exposure Index for youth, .75.

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144 JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION

Fourth and fifth were two of a list of items to be selected by all respondents who
said they could not relate to the present church. The percentage of the total sample in
each denomination saying "The church preaches doctrines I cannot honestly
believe" was 9 among the Catholics, 7 among the Baptists, and 9 among the
Methodists. The percentage saying "The church is too narrow minded about moder
religious thought" was 15 among the Catholics, 2 among the Baptists, and 8 among
the Methodists. Each item was scored 1 if selected, 0 if not.

Other Measures

To measure general cognitive capacity we used the Burney Logical Reasoning

Test, a 21-item pencil-and-paper test of capacity for logical reasoning (Burney and
Popejoy, 1974). The test utilizes simple diagrams, mental puzzles, thought
experiments, and verbal analogies to assess high school students' abilities to use
formal reasoning. Possible scores ranged from 0 to 21. The means were: Catholics,
12.90; Baptists, 11.88; Methodists, 13.70 (p < .001 by F-test). These denominational
differences are probably a reflection of family backgrounds, since father's education
is the strongest determinant of Burney scores in our data (r = .28).
The Burney test, like the Thinking About the Bible test, produces detailed
continuous scores rather than a single assessment of cognitive processes as being on
one of the three levels described by Piaget. Goldman conceptualized his work in
terms of the Piagetian levels but for research purposes utilized measures producing
more detailed scores. Peatling and Burney followed the same procedure,while trying
at the same time to interpret the continuous scores in approximate Piagetian levels.
The present study follows this same method, since we believe that detailed
continuous scores are more helpful than simple levels of cognitive operations in
research searching for the determinants and consequences of religious thinking.
Besides overall cognitive development, Goldman discussed nine possible factors
likely to influence level of religious thinking. Our study included measures of eight-
all but chronological age, which we controlled. The theoretical variables and
indicators are: (1) Strongly-Held Attitudes and Beliefs. Goldman mentioned, as an
example, beliefs about the authority of the Bible. Our questionnaire included an
index of orthodox Christian beliefs, the 7-item Creedal Assent Index by King and
Hunt (1975). This Likert-type index, composed of creedlike statements, seems a
useful indicator of strongly-held central religious beliefs, though we lack direct
knowledge of how strongly the beliefs are indeed held. Each statement in the index
was followed by five responses ranging from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree,
scored from 5 to 1. Index scores were means of item scores, thus ranging from 1.0 to
5.0. One item stated, "I believe honestly and wholeheartedly in the doctrines and
teachings of the church," and the percentage strongly agreeing or agreeing was:
Catholics, 39; Baptists, 52; Methodists, 41. The denominational mean scores were
Catholics, 3.82; Baptists, 4.27; Methodists, 3.83 (p < .001 by F-test).
(2) Religious Interest or Motivation. We asked "How would you rate your interest
in the questions religion seeks to answer, such as questions of the meaning of life and
death, evil and destiny?" The five responses ranged from Very High to Very Low.
Denominational means were not significantly different.

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RELIGIOUS THINKING IN ADOLESCENCE: GOLDMAN'S THEORIES 145

(3) Attitudes of Peers. We asked the youth to think of their five closest friends and
then we asked (a) how many attend church or religious services at least twice a
month, and (b) how many participate regularly in religious education or church
youth programs. The three denominations were not significantly different in the
number of friends attending church, but they were different in the number of friends
participating in religious education or church youth programs. The means were:
Catholics, 1.79; Baptists, 2.48; Methodists, 2.08 (p <.001 by F-test).
(4) Attendance at Church or Sunday School. We asked frequency of church
participation, the Catholics how many years of Catholic school they have had and
whether they are attending a Catholic or private school now, how many years the
public-school Catholics have attended CCD (weekly religious classes), and how
many years of Sunday school the Baptists and Methodists have had. We also asked
"Did you have special religious instruction prior to confirmation or baptism?" with
the responses being No; Yes, 1-10weeks; Yes, 10-20weeks; Yes, 1 year; and Yes, over 1
year, scored from 1 to 5. Of the Catholics, 32 percent reported 7 or more years of
Catholic school. Of the Baptists, 87 percent reported 7 or more years of Sunday
school, and of the Methodists, 59 percent reported the same. The percentage
reporting some special religious instruction prior to confirmation or baptism was
Catholics, 81; Baptists, 47; Methodists, 70 (p <.001 by chi-square).
(5) Type of Religious Education. We interviewed all the youth ministers or senior
ministers about religious education programs. We asked whether the emphasis of the
10th grade curriculum was mainly Biblical, religion in life, or a combination of the
two (scored 3,1, and 2). Also we asked if the style of relationship between the students
and the teachers was formal, informal, or a mixture of the two (scored 3, 1, and 2). In
the youth questionnaire we asked them if they like or disliked the religious
instruction they had in the past. Five responses ranged from "Likedit very much" to
"Disliked it very much," scored from 5 to 1. The Baptists reported significantly
higher liking for religious instruction than the Catholics and Methodists (p < .001
by chi-square).
(6) Attitude of Parents Toward Religion. We distinguished parents' religiosity
and religious training of children. On parents' religiosity we asked the youth to
report father's church attendance, mother's church attendance, and the amount
each parent carries his or her religious beliefs over into all of life. The parents also
completed the Creedal Assent Index. Also the parent's questionnaire included a
Religious Relativism Index, composed of 5 Likert-type items. A high index score
indicates a belief that all religious truth is relative, and no one religion has more
ultimate truth than another. For example, one item stated "All the great religions of
the world are equally true and good." Another stated "The only absolute Truth for
humankind is in Jesus Christ" (reversed in scoring). The Baptist parents were much
less relativistic than the Catholic and Methodist parents (p < .001 by F-test).
On religious training of children we asked the youth how frequently their
mothers and their fathers talk with them about religion or the church. The five
responses ranged from "Very frequently" to "Never," scored from 5 to 1. The parent's
questionnaire included a 4-item Family Religious Supervision Index measuring
parents' attitudes concerning active religious supervision of children. For example,
one item stated "A high school youth should obey the teachings of parents and

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146 JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION

church authorities in matters of faith." The percentage of mothers strongly agreeing

or agreeing was: Catholics, 87; Baptists, 53; and Methodists, 43. The percentages for
fathers were 80, 72, and 44 respectively. High index scores indicate belief in parental
pressure for children's conformity in religious matters; low scores indicate an
attitude that children should decide these things themselves. The denominations
differed significantly (p < .001 by F-test).
(7) Bible Reading and Prayer Habits. Our youth questionnaire included the 5-
item Devotionalism Index from King and Hunt (1975). All five items are about
frequency of prayer or meaningfulness of prayer. The Baptist youth scored slightly
higher than the Catholics and Methodists (p < .05 by F-test). On Bible reading we
had no measure.
(8) Familiarity WithReligious Material. Wehad two measures, first an Exposure
Index built into the Thinking About the Bible test. It was composed of two questions
after each story asking "Have you heard this story before?"and "Have you seen this
story in a film or on television?" Each had three responses, scored from 3 to 1, and the
mean of the six items was the index score. Second was a 15-question quiz of
knowledge of the Bible. Each question had four possible answers. For example, one
question asked "Whoreceived the Ten Commandments on the mountain?" and listed
Joshua, Jesus, Adam, and Moses. Possible quiz scores ranged from 0 to 15. The
means were: Catholics, 7.36; Baptists, 9.19; Methodists, 7.29 (p <.001 by F-test).

RESULTS:
DETERMINANTS OF LEVEL OF RELIGIOUS THINKING

Table 1 contains the correlations between the determinant measures and RTTA
within each denomination. Preliminary analysis indicated that calculations for
hypothesis testing needed to be done within each denomination, due to the
substantial variations among them. (For exposition purposes we regard all
correlations weaker than ± .15 as too weak to be noteworthy.)

TABLE 1

DETERMINANTS AND CORRELATES OF RELIGIOUS THINKING TOTAL ABSTRACT

(RTTA) SCORES WITHIN EACH DENOMINATION

Catholics Baptists Methodists

(N = 152) (N = 151) (N = 148)

Strongly-Held Attitudes and Beliefs

Creedal Assent Index -.11 -.20* -19'

Religious Interest or Motivation

Interest in the questions religion seeks
to answer -.03 -.19* .01

Attitudes of Peers
Number of 5 closest friends who attended church or
religious services at least twice a month .11 -.10 -.06
Number of 5 closest friends who participate regularly
in religious education or youth programs .17* -.19* -.03

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 RELIGIOUS THINKING IN ADOLESCENCE: GOLDMAN'S THEORIES 147

Catholics Baptists Methodists

(N = 152) (N = 151) (N = 148)
Attendance at Church or Sunday School
Church attendance (times per year) .04 -.18* .03
Years of Catholic school .21*
Now attending Catholic or private school (yes=2, No=l) .21*
Years of CCD (Catholics in public school only) a .03
Years of Sunday school (Baptists and Methodists only) -.11 .09
Amount of special religious instruction prior to
confirmation or baptism .16* .06 .08

Type of Religious Education

Curriculum emphasis (Biblical=3, religion in life=l,
mixed=2) -.03 -.05 -.16*
Style of relationship between students and teachers
(formal=3, informal=l, mixed=2) .06 .06 .00
Liked religious instruction in the past several years .05 -.22* -.10

Attitudes of Parents Toward Religion: Parents' Religiosity

Mother's church attendance (times per year) .01 -.01 -.03
Father's church attendance (times per year) .03 .04 .01
"How much does your mother carry her religious
beliefs over into all of life?" -.03 -.05 .09
"How much does your father carry his religious
beliefs over into all of life?" -.03 -.05 .11
Mother: Creedal Assent Index b -.20* -.05 -.04
Father: Creedal Assent Indexb .04 .08 .07
Mother: Religious Relativism Indexb .00 -.01 .04
Father: Religious Relativism Indexb .16 .12 -.18*

Attitudes of Parents Toward Religion: Religious Training of Children

"How frequently does your mother talk with you about
religion or the church?" -.07 .00 .05
"How frequently does your father talk with you about
religion or the church?" -.01 .02 -.03
Mother: Family Religious Supervision Indexb -.01 .07 -.05
Father: Family Religious Supervision Indexb -.01 .05 .15

Prayer Habits
Devotionalism Index -.12

Familiarity With Religious Material

Exposure Index .25* -.13 .17*
Knowledge of the Bible Quiz .30* -.06 .04

General Cognitive Capacity

Burney Logical Reasoning Test .23* .02 .18*

Since some Catholics now in public school have attended Catholic schools in the past, this is a partial
correlation, partialling out years of Catholic school.

bCorrelations with indices taken from mothers' questionnaires are based on 123 Catholics, 103 Baptists, and
86 Methodists. Those from fathers' questionnaires are based on 105 Catholics, 92 Baptists, and 84
Methodists.

*p <.05

Creedal beliefs were associated with more concrete religious thinking among the
Baptists and Methodists, but not among the Catholics. Self-estimated religious

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148 JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION

interest was associated with concrete religious thinking among the Baptists but not
the others. Peer influences had an impact only from peers who participate in
religious education or youth programs; they were in the direction of more abstract
thinking for the Catholics, more concrete thinking for the Baptists.
Frequency of church attendance was associated with more concrete thinking
among the Baptists, but not among the Catholics and Methodists. Education in
Catholic schools had a definite effect on the Catholic youth, causing more abstract
religious thinking. Training in CCD had no discernible effect on public school
Catholics. Among the Protestants the amount of Sunday school and special religious
instruction prior to confirmation or baptism had little effect.
Type of religious education within each denomination (i.e., CCD for the
Catholics) had limited effect. Among the Methodists a more Biblical curriculum
emphasis was weakly associated with more concrete thinking, but not elsewhere.
Whether the youth liked his religious training was important only among the
Baptists, where it was associated with more concrete thinking.
The measures of parents' religiosity and parents' attitudes toward religious
training of children proved unimportant in explaining levels of children's religious
thinking. Out of 12 measures tested, only two had noteworthy correlations with level
of religious thinking, and they were so idiosyncratic as to make them theoretically
unimportant.
Personal devotional life had a definite association with level of religious
thinking among the Catholics and Baptists; the more devotional youth had more
concrete religious thinking. For the Methodists the association was in the same
direction but very weak.
Familiarity with Biblical material had a quite strong impact on Catholics,
causing more abstract thinking. Among the Baptists and Methodists the patterns
were weaker and mixed. Apparently familiarity with Biblical material in itself is not
the crucial factor but another associated factor is crucial such as Biblical
interpretation or theological approach. The denominational differences at this point
are very marked.
Finally, the impact of general cognitive capacity on the level of religious
thinking is fairly strong for the Catholics and modest for the Methodists. Among the
Baptists it has no effect. The low correlations are not caused by great restrictions in
the variance of the Burney scores caused by our sample control on age; the standard
deviations were 4.34 for the Catholics, 4.18 for the Baptists, and 3.84 for the
Methodists. We conclude that religious education and socialization has a greater
overall impact on concreteness or abstractness of religious thinking than has
general cognitive capacity.

Public School and Private School Catholics

The denominational variations in Table 1 were large, suggesting the important

effect of specific programs of religious training. Therefore, we looked into differences
between public school Catholics (N = 103) and private and religious school Catholics
(N = 48). The two groups did not differ in family background and overall cognitive
capacity; father's education, family income, and Burey test scores did not differ

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RELIGIOUS THINKING IN ADOLESCENCE: GOLDMAN'S THEORIES 149

significantly (at .05 by t-test). However, the two groups differed in religious thinking.
The private school Catholics scored significantly higher on RTTA (52.3 compared
with 50.9). Also, they scored higher on the knowledge of the Bible quiz (8.17 compared
with 6.93) and on the Creedal Assent Index (4.00 compared with 3.74) (p < .05 for
each by t-test). The private school Catholics have apparently had training making
them more familiar with the Bible and more abstract in their thinking about it.
We computed the correlations in Table 1 within each group of Catholics. The
private school Catholics had stronger associations between RTTA and educational
factors than did the public school Catholics. For private school Catholics the
correlation with amount of special religious instruction prior to confirmation was
.31, compared with .02 for the others; their correlation with a Biblical curriculum
emphasis in their parish was .27, compared with -.13 for the others; their correlation
with the knowledge of the Bible quiz was .44, compared with .23 for the others; and
their correlation with the Burney Logical Reasoning Test was .37, compared with .17
for the others.5 These findings strengthen our conclusion that the education received
by the private school Catholics increased their familarity with the Bible and
encouraged a more abstract way of thinking about it.

Summary of Determinants and Correlates

A principal finding in Table 1 was the amount of difference among the

denominations. Among the Catholic youth, amount of religious instruction and
exposure to Biblical materials have clear abstracting influences. Especially for those
in private and religious schools, religious education appears to have had a strong
effect. Among the Baptists, religious education has had the opposite effect. For them,
doctrinal factors, peer influences, and devotional commitments are all associated
with more concrete religious thinking, and they represent an influence which is so
strong that cognitive capacity in general has no relationship with level of religious
thinking. Among the Methodists the picture is less clear; strongly-held doctrinal
beliefs are moderately associated with concrete thinking, but familiarity with
Biblical material is moderately associated with abstract thinking.

Specification of the Impacts of Religious Education

To depict more clearly the impacts of religious education on religious thinking

within each denomination, we constructed and tested a simple path model; see
Figure 1. It distinguishes the impact of religious education through increases in
Bible knowledge quiz score (paths e and c), the impact through changes in Creedal
Assent Index (paths f and d), and other impact (path b). Also the model includes

5. This correlation of .37 between RTTA and the Burney scores for private school Catholics closely
approximates the .39 found by Peatling among students in Episcopalian private schools. Apparently both
sets of private school students take a more intellectually-open approach to the Bible than do other youth, so
that their thinking about the Bible is more influenced by overall cognitive capacity, less by doctrinal factors.
This conclusion is supported by other relationships. The correlation between RTTA and the Creedal Assent
Index is -.04 for the private school Catholics, compared with -.19 for the public school Catholics, -.20 for the
Baptists, and -.19 for the Methodists.

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150 JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION

FIGURE 1

PATH MODEL OF IMPACTS OF

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

general cognitive capacity (path a), mostly to control for its effect while assessing the
other paths.
Table 2 depicts the strength of the six main paths in the model within four
groups. When all other factors are controlled, general cognitive capacity has either a
modest impact or no impact at all in every group. The impact of religious beliefs is

TABLE 2

STRENGTH OF PATHS IN FIGURE 1 WITHIN FOUR GROUPS

(STANDARDIZED REGRESSION COEFFICIENTS)

Public Private
School School
Catholics Catholics Baptists Methodists
(N = 103) (N = 48) (N= 151) (N = 148)

Path a .12 .18 .05 .14

Path b .05 -.33* -.13 .15

Path c .19 .55* -.04 .02

Path d -.27* -.21 -.21* -.24*

Path e -.04 .32* .16* .23*

Path f .15 .09 -.09 .37*

*p <.05

Years of Catholic school is controlled in path b, partialled out in paths e and f.

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RELIGIOUS THINKING IN ADOLESCENCE: GOLDMAN'S THEORIES 151

consistently strong, and in every group assent to creedal beliefs is related to more
concrete religious thinking. Bible knowledge has an influence on the Catholic youth
only, and the influence is toward more abstract religious thinking.
Religious education tends to increase Bible knowledge (path e) in every group
except the public school Catholics; apparently CCD training has little effect in this
regard. Religious education has little impact on religious beliefs except for the
Methodist group, where it produces stronger assent to creedal beliefs.
One main pattern in Table 2 is that paths c and e (the impacts of Bible knowledge
and of religious beliefs on level of religious thinking) are in opposite directions;
greater Bible knowledge causes more abstract thinking, while stronger creedal
beliefs cause more concrete thinking. However, among the Baptists and Methodists
Bible knowledge seems to have no impact on level of religious thinking. Among the
Methodists religious education has definite impacts on both Bible knowledge and
religious beliefs, but since they act in opposite directions on religious thinking, the
zero-ordercorrelation between years of Sunday school and RTTA for Methodists was
only .09. Why this pattern occurs for the Methodists but not the others is unclear; for
some reason religious education in the other groups appears to have minimal impact
on religious beliefs (path f).

RESULTS:
CONSEQUENCES OF RELIGIOUS THINKING

Goldman theorized that a sizable gap between level of religious thinking and
overall level of thinking would set the stage for a rejection of religion as being
childish. He expected that such a rejection would occur during the junior high or high
school years. To test this theory we tried to measure any gap which might exist
between religious thinking and overall cognitive capacity by using the RTTA
measure and the Burney Logical Reasoning Test. We standardized the scores on both
tests and subtracted the RTTA score from the Burney score. Since the two correlated
rather weakly (.23 among the Catholics, .02 among the Baptists, and .18 among the
Methodists), the subtraction produced a wide range of positive and negative values.
Goldman clearly believed that religious thinking level tends to lag behind overall
thinking level, so a standardized score on the RTTA measure should be seen as
equivalent to a lower standardized score on the Burney test. Accordingly we
experimented with arbitrary lags, but since introducing lags has no effect on
correlations involving the gap measure, we did not pursue the idea. Also by using
scatterplots and transformations of variables we tried to discern a more precise
relationship between RTTA and the Burey scores, but without success.
We related our measures of religious rejection to both the gap measure and also
RTTA. As expected, the correlations were in opposite directions. But we did not
expect that the correlations with RTTA would be stronger than those with the gap
measure-which they were in most cases. Since the overall patterns involving the
RTTA measure and the gap measure were so similar (while opposite in sign), we
show only the correlations with the RTTA measure (see Table 3).6
6. Possibly intellectual development alone caused the religious rejection shown in Table 3. Wechecked and
found that it is not the case; in the total sample the strongest correlationthe Burney score had with any of the
five rejection measures in Table 3 was .11.

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152 JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION

TABLE 3

CORRELATIONS BETWEEN ABSTRACT RELIGIOUS THINKING AND REJECTION

OF DOCTRINE AND CHURCH

Public Private
School School
Catholics Catholics Baptists Methodists
(N = 103) (N =48) (N = 151) (N = 148)

Rejection of Doctrine

Has there ever been a period in your

life when you reacted either partially
or wholly against the beliefs taught
you? Yes .36* -.09 .25* .23*

"Religion is an early form of science

and often conflicts with modem science." .20* -.14 .13 .14*

Rejection of the Church

Disapproval of Organized Religion Index .10 .04 .09 .16*

"The church preaches doctrines I cannot

honestly believe." .01 -.38* .05 .00

"The church is too narrow minded about

modem religious thought." -.19* -.31* .01 .14*

*p <.05

While Goldman hypothesized that the larger the gap, the more rejection of
religion would result, Table 3 shows the opposite is predominantly the case.7 For the
Baptists and Methodists, all the correlations are positive, indicating that higher
RTTA scores (and smaller gaps between religious thinking and overall cognitive
capacity) are associated with more rejection of doctrine and the church. For the
public school Catholics the same pattern occurs with one exception, that youth with
more abstract religious thinking tend to disagree with the statement, "The church is
too narrow minded about modem religious thought."
The most intriguing pattern in Table 3 occurs with the private school Catholics.
For them the Goldman hypothesis holds true with regard to the last two measures in
the table, while elsewhere no relationship exists. Apparently the religious education
received by the private school Catholics has both encouraged more abstract religious
thinking (as shown in Table 1) and also reduced the amount of criticism of the
church.8
7. Through use of detailed breakdowns we checked the relationships in Tables 1 and 3 for nonlinear yet
significant relationships. We found none. The correlations depict the relationships adequately.
8. It is possible that many youth in our sample will reject doctrine and church in the next few years. We
cannot know this except through indirect evidence. Fortunately a series of college student surveys included
the item at the top of Table 3 about past rejection of the faith. At Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges in 1966, 77
percent of the undergraduate men and 60 percent of the undergraduate women said yes to this item. At
Williams College in 1974, 79 percent said yes. The percentages reporting rejections by age 16.0 (the mean age
of our sample) in the college studies were 68, 56, and 66 respectively (see Hoge, 1969;Hastings & Hoge, 1976).
We guess that about three-fourths of the reactions against religious training which our sample persons will

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RELIGIOUS THINKING IN ADOLESCENCE: GOLDMAN'S THEORIES 153

We conclude, first, that Goldman's theory about the gap between level of
religious thinking and other thinking is difficult to measure, and future researchers
should use methods different from ours. We were not able to measure the
hypothesized gap with much confidence, and whether the problem was one of theory
or of measurement is not clear. In any event, our measure of religious thinking was at
least as predictive of religious rejection as our measure of the hypothesized gap.
Second, most evidence suggests that Goldman's theory is wrong; more abstract
religious thinking among these high school students is associated with more, not
less, religious rejection. Third, the case of the private school Catholics emphasizes
that religious education of one type or other has considerable impact, and the
Goldman hypothesis must be recast in more specific terms stating expected
relationships within one or another system of religious education.

DISCUSSION

Using the Thinking About the Bible test, we tested some of Goldman's
hypothesized determinants of level of religious thinking. We found much variation
from denomination to denomination. The impact of religious education was quite
strong, while the impact of overall cognitive capacity was weakerthan expected. We
also tested Goldman's theory that a gap between level of religious thinking and
overall cognitive capacity will give way to a rejection of doctrine and church as being
childish. We found little support for the theory. Most of the evidence is in the opposite
direction-that a high level of abstract religious thinking (and no gap between
religious thinking and overall capacity) is associated with rejection of doctrine and
church. This was true for all but the private school Catholics.
An intriguing dilemma exists for the educator in the American church today
hoping to enhance the level of abstract religious thinking among adolescents. Under
most conditions, the more he or she succeeds, the more likely it is the adolescent will
become negative toward the doctrine and the church. But for the private school
Catholics it is the opposite-the more he or she succeeds, the more positive the
adolescent will tend to be toward the doctrine and the church. Why does this
difference occur? Is it due to the nature of religious education in Catholic schools? Is
it because church teachings are differently formulated in the different
denominations? The present study lacks the incisive information needed to answer
this important question. It can merely serve as a guide for future research.

experience during adolescence have already taken place. The correlations in Table 3 will change somewhat
in coming years as more reactions occur, but we doubt if the basic patterns will change.

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154 JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION
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