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Do Non-Religious People Grow Up Differently Than Religious People?

Ryan Burge

One of the most important debates in social science is nature versus nurture. We can observe all kinds of behaviors in adults, but trying to understand the series of events that led to that outcome is really difficult. In psychology, there’s something called “Trait Theory,” the idea that people are born with fairly stable dispositions. Things like introversion, extroversion, or desire to be in control are innate qualities of an individual. While circumstances can affect a person, you can’t make a shy person enjoy being the center of attention, no matter what happened to them in their formative years. There is some evidence of a genetic component to religious affiliation. In a study of twins separated at birth, Thomas Bouchard found that about 50% of religiosity was genetically influenced, while the other half relied on environmental factors. But, as you might expect, this issue is more significant than a DNA profile. For non-religious individuals, the religious environment of their youth can help us understand what factors can lead someone to leave faith behind or become an active member of a house of worship. In 2024, Tony Jones and I (using Templeton Foundation funding) surveyed over 12,000 non-religious Americans. We asked all kinds of questions about their religious history to try and build a more complete picture of how the nones navigate their adolescence. For instance, we asked, “At any point in your life would you have described yourself as a born-again or evangelical Christian?”

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