A new paper from Pogorelova and Mocan:
We exploit information on compulsory schooling reforms in 11 European countries, implemented in the 1960s and 70s, to identify the impact of education on religious
adherence and religious practices. Using micro data from the European Social Survey, conducted in various years between 2002 and 2013, we find consistently large negative
effects of schooling on self-reported religiosity, social religious acts (attending religious services), as well as solitary religious acts (the frequency of praying). We also use data from European Values Survey to apply the same empirical design to analyze the impact of schooling on superstitious beliefs. We find that more education, due to increased mandatory years of schooling, reduces individuals’ tendency to believe in the power of lucky charms and the tendency to take into account horoscopes in daily life.
I’d be interested to see the effects on attitudes to modernization, nationalism, and political systems as well. What ideologies and identities displace religion?
Before people run off an extrapolate too much, it’s also worth noting that when you get a causal estimate from compulsory schooling laws, it doesn’t necessarily apply to the population. It’s estimated off of the people who would not have gone to school without the law, but do once the law gets introduced.
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I would say that the study measures religious practice rather than belief (unless you count in superstition, that measures both belief and practice). As you mention in the last paragraph, it measures two very specific cohorts, maybe it should also do a comparison with overall trends in religiosity or with younger and older cohorts.
Another point to note is that in many of the countries studied, religious institutions are/where important providers of schooling at the time of the reform. The reform itself could have diminished the influence of religious providers either because of expansion of public schools (I know in Spain the reform was coupled with a wave of school construction) or wave) the lack of capacity to actually cover the extra (or two) years of schooling.
Interesting, but curriculum content also key: “What does (European) schooling do to religious belief & practice?” http://t.co/rtvownSdhW
“What does (European) schooling do to religious belief and practice?”
http://t.co/QFY8e3PJeC
RT @benjamingeer: What does (European) schooling do to religious belief and practice? http://t.co/b6gsJYCTBs
@cblatts do you think similar could be done for African countries with early 90s free school reforms? Or need to wait for 00s countries?
What does (European) schooling do to religious belief and practice? http://t.co/b6gsJYCTBs
What does (European) schooling do to religious belief and practice?: A new paper from Pogorelova and Mocan: We… http://t.co/BJdJdsJYfN
RT @cblatts: What does (European) schooling do to religious belief and practice? http://t.co/ugjnIyrFr8
RT @cblatts: What does (European) schooling do to religious belief and practice? http://t.co/ugjnIyrFr8