Differences in children’s concepts of god. A replication study based on creative tasks with different materials

Abstract

ABSTRACT The gendered experiences of boys and girls in their daily lives appear to predict the motifs that children use to express their concepts of God. At the same time, gender-typical behaviour seems to steer the processes by which these concepts are articulated. This paper tests both of these effects of gender on children’s concepts of God by replicating the method of material collage. The sample consists of n = 51 children attending denominational religious education in a German primary school. The analysis shows that boys significantly more often express their concept of God via technical objects, while girls more often use natural motifs. In this process girls significantly more often use soft material than do boys, whereas the two sexes do not differ significantly in their utilisation of hard material. The results confirm the effect of gender-stereotypes on the expression of children’s God concepts.