Abstract
Many aspects of religious rituals suggest they provide adaptive benefits.
Studies across societies consistently find that investments in ritual behaviour
return high levels of cooperation. Another line of research finds that alloparental
support to mothers increases maternal fertility and improves child
outcomes. Although plausible, whether religious cooperation extends to
alloparenting and/or affects child development remains unclear. Using
10 years of data collected from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents
and Children (ALSPAC), we test the predictions that church attendance
is positively associated with social support and fertility (n = 8207 to n =
8209), and that social support is positively associated with fertility and
child development (n = 1766 to n = 6561). Results show that: (i) relative to
not attending, church attendance is positively related to a woman’s social
network support and aid from co-religionists, (ii) aid from co-religionists
is associated with increased family size, while (iii) fertility declines with
extra-religious social network support. Moreover, while extra-religious
social network support decreased over time, co-religionist aid remained constant.
These findings suggest that religious and secular networks differ
in their longevity and have divergent influences on a woman’s fertility.
We find some suggestive evidence that support to mothers and aid from
co-religionists is positively associated with a child’s cognitive ability at
later stages of development. Findings provide mixed support for the premise
that ritual, such as church attendance, is part of a strategy that returns high
levels of support, fertility and improved child outcomes. Identifying the
diversity and scope of cooperative breeding strategies across global religions
presents an intriguing new horizon in the evolutionary study of religious
systems.
Studies across societies consistently find that investments in ritual behaviour
return high levels of cooperation. Another line of research finds that alloparental
support to mothers increases maternal fertility and improves child
outcomes. Although plausible, whether religious cooperation extends to
alloparenting and/or affects child development remains unclear. Using
10 years of data collected from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents
and Children (ALSPAC), we test the predictions that church attendance
is positively associated with social support and fertility (n = 8207 to n =
8209), and that social support is positively associated with fertility and
child development (n = 1766 to n = 6561). Results show that: (i) relative to
not attending, church attendance is positively related to a woman’s social
network support and aid from co-religionists, (ii) aid from co-religionists
is associated with increased family size, while (iii) fertility declines with
extra-religious social network support. Moreover, while extra-religious
social network support decreased over time, co-religionist aid remained constant.
These findings suggest that religious and secular networks differ
in their longevity and have divergent influences on a woman’s fertility.
We find some suggestive evidence that support to mothers and aid from
co-religionists is positively associated with a child’s cognitive ability at
later stages of development. Findings provide mixed support for the premise
that ritual, such as church attendance, is part of a strategy that returns high
levels of support, fertility and improved child outcomes. Identifying the
diversity and scope of cooperative breeding strategies across global religions
presents an intriguing new horizon in the evolutionary study of religious
systems.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
| Volume | 375 |
| Issue | 1805 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| ISSN | 0962-8436 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2020 |