Research on parenting has explored a variety of religious factors affecting child-rearing outcomes but has devoted limited attention to supernatural evil. We extend this work by examining the relationship between parents’ belief in supernatural evil and their child-rearing outcomes. We propose that parents with greater belief in supernatural evil practice “supernatural risk management,” and they use parenting orientations more closely associated with obedience and control to counter the potential influence of supernatural antagonists. Using a national survey of Americans with a multi-item index of belief in supernatural evil, we estimate models predicting five parenting outcomes: corporal punishment, using time outs, praising a child instead of disciplining, closely monitoring children, and closely monitoring children’s entertainment intake. We find partial support for our hypothesis as belief in supernatural evil is positively associated with corporal punishment, while negatively associated with believing praise is more important than discipline, and closely monitoring one’s child.
AllisonP. D. (1987). Introducing a disturbance into logit and probit regression models. Sociological Methods & Research, 15, 355-374. doi:10.1177/0049124187015004001
2.
AunolaK.StattinH.NurmiJ.-E. (2000). Parenting styles and adolescents’ achievement strategies. Journal of Adolescence, 23, 205-222. doi:10.1006/jado.2000.0308
3.
BaderC.MenckenF. C.FroeseP. (2007). American piety 2005: Content and methods of the Baylor Religion Survey. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 46, 447-463. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2007.00371.x
4.
BakerJ. O. (2008). Who believes in religious evil? An investigation of sociological patterns of belief in Satan, hell, and demons. Review of Religious Research, 50, 206-220. doi:10.2307/20447562
5.
BakerJ. O.BoothA. L. (2016). Hell to pay: Religion and punitive ideology among the American public. Punishment & Society, 18, 151-176.
6.
BartkowskiJ. P. (1995). Spare the rod . . . , or spare the child? Divergent perspectives on conservative Protestant child discipline. Review of Religious Research, 37, 97-116. doi:10.2307/3512395
7.
BartkowskiJ. P.EllisonC. G. (2009). Conservative Protestants on children and parenting. In BrowningD. S.Miller-MclemoreB. J. (Eds.), Children and childhood in American religions (pp. 42-55). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
8.
BartkowskiJ. P.XuX. (2000). Distant patriarchs or expressive dads? The discourse and practice of fathering in conservative Protestant families. Sociological Quarterly, 41, 465-485. doi:10.1111/j.1533-8525.2000.tb00088.x
9.
BaumrindD. (1966). Effects of authoritative parental control on child behavior. Child Development, 37, 887-907. doi:10.2307/1126611
10.
BaumrindD. (1967). Child care practices anteceding three patterns of preschool behavior. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 75(1), 43-88.
11.
BolkanC.SanoY.De CostaJ.AcockA. C.DayR. D. (2010). Early adolescents’ perceptions of mothers’ and fathers’ parenting styles and problem behavior. Marriage & Family Review, 46, 563-579. doi:10.1080/01494929.2010.543040
12.
BurkettL. (1999). Women leaving the workplace: How to make the transition from work to home. Chicago, IL: MOODY Press.
13.
ChavesM. (2011). American religion: Contemporary trends. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
14.
DoughertyK. D.JohnsonB. R.PolsonE. C. (2007). Recovering the lost: Remeasuring U.S. religious affiliation. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 46, 483-499. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2007.00373.x
15.
DraperS.BakerJ. O. (2011). Angelic belief as American folk religion. Sociological Forum, 26, 623-643. doi:10.1111/j.1573-7861.2011.01265.x
16.
EllisonC. G.BartkowskiJ. P.SegalM. L. (1996). Conservative Protestantism and the parental use of corporal punishment. Social Forces, 74, 1003-1028. doi:10.1093/sf/74.3.1003
17.
EllisonC. G.BradshawM. (2009). Religious beliefs, sociopolitical ideology, and attitudes toward corporal punishment. Journal of Family Issues, 30, 320-340. doi:10.1177/0192513X08326331
18.
EllisonC. G.MusickM. A.HoldenG. W. (2011). Does conservative Protestantism moderate the association between corporal punishment and child outcomes?Journal of Marriage and Family, 73, 946-961. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2011.00854.x
19.
EllisonC. G.SherkatD. E. (1993a). Obedience and autonomy: Religion and parental values reconsidered. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 32, 313-329. doi:10.2307/1387172
20.
EllisonC. G.SherkatD. E. (1993b). Conservative Protestantism and support for corporal punishment. American Sociological Review, 58, 131-144. doi:10.2307/2096222
21.
FlannellyK. J. (2017). Belief in divine forgiveness, evil, and biblical literalism and mental health. In Religious beliefs, evolutionary psychiatry, and mental health in America (pp. 243-257). New York, NY: Springer.
22.
FletcherA. C.WallsJ. K.CookE. C.MadisonK. J.BridgesT. H. (2008). Parenting style as a moderator of associations between maternal disciplinary strategies and child well-being. Journal of Family Issues, 29, 1724-1744. doi:10.1177/0192513X08322933
23.
FroeseP.BaderC. (2010). America’s four Gods: What we say about God and what that says about us (1st ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
24.
GunnoeM. L.HetheringtonE. M.ReissD. (2006). Differential impact of fathers’ authoritarian parenting on early adolescent adjustment in conservative Protestant versus other families. Journal of Family Psychology, 20, 589-596. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.20.4.589
25.
HirschiT.StarkR. (1969). Hellfire and delinquency. Social Problems, 17, 202-213. doi:10.1525/sp.1969.17.2.03a00050
26.
HoffmannJ. P.EllisonC. G.BartkowskiJ. P. (2017). Conservative Protestantism and attitudes toward corporal punishment, 1986–2014. Social Science Research, 63, 81-94. doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2016.09.010
27.
IrwinK.MartinezB. C. (2017). The effects of Protestant theological conservatism and trust on environmental cooperation. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. Advance online publication. doi:10.1111/jssr.12312
28.
JohnsonD. D. P. (2005). God’s punishment and public goods. Human Nature, 16, 410-446. doi:10.1007/s12110-005-1017-0
29.
JohnsonD. D. P.KrugerO. (2004). The good of wrath: Supernatural punishment and the evolution of cooperation. Political Theology, 5, 159-176. doi:10.1558/poth.v5i2.159
30.
LaibleD. J.CarloG. (2004). The differential relations of maternal and paternal support and control to adolescent social competence, self-worth, and sympathy. Journal of Adolescent Research, 19, 759-782. doi:10.1177/0743558403260094
31.
LuhrmannT. M. (2012). When God talks back: Understanding the American evangelical relationship with God. New York, NY: Vintage Books.
32.
MacArthurJ. (2014). Being a dad who leads. Eugene, OR: Harvest House.
33.
MaccobyE. E.MartinJ. A. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family: Parent-child interaction. In MussenP.HetheringtonE. M. (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology, socialization, personality and social development (Vol. 4, pp. 1-101). New York, NY: Wiley.
34.
MartinezB. C. (2013). Is evil good for religion? The link between supernatural evil and religious commitment. Review of Religious Research, 55, 319-338. doi:10.1007/s13644-012-0094-x
35.
MartinezB. C.DoughertyK. D. (2013). Race, belonging, and participation in religious congregations. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 52, 713-732.
36.
McKinneyC.MorseM.PastuszakJ. (2016). Effective and ineffective parenting associations with psychological adjustment in emerging adults. Journal of Family Issues, 37, 1203-1225. doi:10.1177/0192513X14537480
37.
MuchembledR. (2003). A history of the devil: From the middle ages to the present (J. Birrell, Trans.). Cambridge, England: Polity Press.
38.
NieF.OlsonD. V. A. (2016). Demonic influence: The negative mental health effects of belief in demons. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 55, 498-515. doi:10.1111/jssr.12287
39.
NorenzayanA.ShariffA. F. (2008). The origin and evolution of religious prosociality. Science, 322, 58-62. doi:10.1126/science.1158757
40.
RussellJ. B. (1987). Satan: The early Christian tradition. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
41.
ShekD. T. L. (1997). Family environment and adolescent psychological well-being, school adjustment, and problem behavior: A pioneer study in a Chinese context. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 158, 113-128. doi:10.1080/00221329709596656
42.
StarkR. (1996). Religion as context: Hellfire and delinquency one more time. Sociology of Religion, 57, 163-173. doi:10.2307/3711948
43.
StarkR. (2008). What Americans really believe (Illustrated ed.). Waco, TX: Baylor University Press.
44.
StarkR.BainbridgeW. S. (1996). A theory of religion. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
45.
StarkR.FinkeR. (2000). Acts of faith: Explaining the human side of religion. Berkley: University of California Press.
46.
SteenslandB.RobinsonL. D.WilcoxW. B.ParkJ. Z.RegnerusM. D.WoodberryR. D. (2000). The measure of American religion: Toward improving the state of the art. Social Forces, 79, 291-318.
47.
StroopeS. (2011a). Education and religion: Individual, congregational, and cross-level interaction effects on biblical literalism. Social Science Research, 40, 1478-1493. doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2011.05.001
48.
StroopeS. (2011b). How culture shapes community: Bible belief, theological unity, and a sense of belonging in religious congregations. Sociological Quarterly, 52, 568-592. doi:10.1111/j.1533-8525.2011.01220.x
49.
StroopeS. (2012). Social networks and religion: The role of congregational social embeddedness in religious belief and practice. Sociology of Religion, 73, 273-298. doi:10.1093/socrel/srr052
50.
StroopeS.BakerJ. O. (2014). Structural and cultural sources of community in American congregations. Social Science Research, 45, 1-17. doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2013.12.010
51.
StroopeS.DraperS.WhiteheadA. L. (2013). Images of a loving God and sense of meaning in life. Social Indicators Research, 111, 25-44. doi:10.1007/s11205-011-9982-7
52.
SwatosW. H. (1988). Picketing Satan enfleshed at 7-Eleven: A research note. Review of Religious Research, 30, 73-82. doi:10.2307/3511842
53.
WangC.XiaY.LiW.WilsonS. M.BushK.PetersonG. (2016). Parenting behaviors, adolescent depressive symptoms, and problem behavior: The role of self-esteem and school adjustment difficulties among Chinese adolescents. Journal of Family Issues, 37, 520-542. doi:10.1177/0192513X14542433
54.
WatermanE. A.LefkowitzE. S. (2016). Are mothers’ and fathers’ parenting characteristics associated with emerging adults’ academic engagement?Journal of Family Issues, 38, 1239-1261. doi:10.1177/0192513X16637101
55.
WilcoxC.LinzeyS.JelenT. G. (1991). Reluctant warriors: Premillennialism and politics in the moral majority. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 30, 245-258. doi:10.2307/1386971
56.
WilcoxW. B. (2002). Religion, convention, and paternal involvement. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64, 780-792. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2002.00780.x
57.
WilcoxW. B. (2004). Soft patriarchs, new men: How Christianity shapes fathers and husbands. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
58.
WilsonK. M.HuffJ. L. (2001). Scaling Satan. Journal of Psychology, 135, 292-300. doi:10.1080/00223980109603699
