When Children Draw Gods : : A Multicultural and Interdisciplinary Approach to Children's Representations of Supernatural Agents.

• Superior document: New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion Series ; v.12
• Author: Brandt, Pierre-Yves.
• TeilnehmendeR: Dandarova-Robert, Zhargalma.; Cocco, Christelle.; Vinck, Dominique.; Darbellay, édéric.
• Place / Publishing House: Cham : : Springer International Publishing AG,, 2023.; ©2023.
• Year of Publication: 2023
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion Series
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (560 pages)

Table of Contents

Intro -- Contents -- Chapter 1: Introduction to the Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Project Children's Drawings of Gods: Presentation of the Project and of this Book -- Presentation of the Children's Drawings of Gods Project -- A Work in Progress: From the Genesis of the Project to the Present -- Procedure and Instructions -- Ethical Considerations -- God, "God", Gods, Supernatural Agent: A Note on Terminology -- Organisation of this Book -- References -- Part I: Towards an Integrative Model -- Chapter 2: Integrative Model of Children's Representations of God in Drawings -- Outline of the Presentation -- Definitions -- Anthropomorphism in the Representation of Gods: Cognitive and Developmental Perspectives -- A Cognitive Perspective -- A Developmental Perspective -- Gender in Children's Drawings of Gods -- Influence of Cultural Representations in Children's Drawings of Gods -- Children's Drawings of Gods from the Point of View of Attachment Theory -- Emotionality in Children's Drawings of Gods -- Impact of Religious Education and Religious Socialization on Children's Drawings of Gods -- Ambivalence: Attributing Contradictory Properties Simultaneously to Signify a Being Beyond Any Categorization -- Synthesis -- References -- Part II: Focus on the Main Figure: Anthropomorphic and Gender Features -- Chapter 3: Children's God Representations: Are Anthropomorphic God Figures Only Human? -- Anthropomorphism in Religion -- Cognitive Approaches to Religion -- The Preparedness Hypothesis -- Ontological Categories of the Divine in Childhood -- The Semi-Propositional Nature of Cultural Representations -- Concept Development: Children's Cognition and Socio-Cultural Background -- Categories and Domain-Specific Information -- The Importance of Testimony in Children's Development of Various Concepts -- Complexity of God Figures: A View of Multiplicity.

Un-Dichotomizing a Binary-Based Change and Calling into Question Non-Anthropomorphic-Abstract/Symbolic Connections -- Types of God Representations and Their Multiplicity -- Conceptual Hybridism: A Case for God Representations? -- Anthropomorphic vs. Non-Anthropomorphic God Figures in Children's Drawings of God -- A Revised Developmental Perspective on Anthropomorphic God Representations: Progressive De-Anthropomorphization -- What Is Meant by De-Anthropomorphization? -- What Is the Developmental Course for De-Anthropomorphization of Children's Representations of God? -- General Scientific Rationale -- Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 4: Humanness and Non-Humanness in Children's Drawings of God: A Case Study from French-Speaking Switzerland -- Current Research -- General Rationale -- Purpose of This Research -- General Method -- Data Collection -- Participants -- Materials -- Procedure -- Religiosity Measures -- Predictor Variables -- Religious Affiliation and Prayer Practice -- Statistical Analyses -- Study 1: Anthropomorphic vs. Non-Anthropomorphic God Figures: A Replication Study -- Study 1: Aim, Objective, and Research Question -- Hypotheses -- Construction of a Model of Anthropomorphism in God Representations -- Classification Procedure -- Classification System in the Model -- Results -- Discussion -- Study 2: Beyond Binaries: Empirically Testing Children's Utilization of De-Anthropomorphization Strategies -- Aim, Objective and Research Question -- Hypotheses -- Method -- Assessment and Analyses -- Familiarization with the Data, Inventorying and Sampling Down -- De-Anthropomorphizing Strategies -- Cross-Category -- Within-the-Human-Figure Category: Features -- Scission-Combination -- Through the Background -- Constructing a Model of De-Anthropomorphization -- Samples -- Scoring Procedure -- Sample Characteristics -- Results.

Hypotheses Testing -- Testing Hypothesis 1 -- De-Anthropomorphization -- Testing Hypothesis 2 -- Developmental Patterns -- Additional Considerations: Fundamental Graphic Techniques -- Discussion -- General Discussion -- Limitations and Future Research -- Practical Implications -- Religious Education -- General Teaching -- Conclusion -- Appendix -- References -- Chapter 5: Construction and Transgression of Gender Categories in Representations of Divine Figures: A Cross-Cultural Study of Children's Drawings -- Data Collection in Several Socio-Cultural and Religious Environments -- Hurdles Faced by the Participants, Hurdles Faced by the Researchers -- Forms of Normative Pressure and Transgressive Gender Typing -- Gender Categories and Children's Socio-Demographics -- Data Sample -- Gender Categories and Object of Study -- Distribution of Gender Categories -- Cross-Cultural and Inter-Faith Comparison on Feminine Figures -- Gender of the Divine Figure vs. Gender of Participant -- Developmental Aspects -- Summary -- Strategies Used by Children to Express Gender in Drawings of God -- Masculine Divine Figures -- Feminine Divine Figures -- Androgynous Divine Figures -- Undifferentiated Divine Figures -- Summary -- Discussion -- References -- Chapter 6: Where Gods Dwell? Part I: Spatial Imagery in Children's Drawings of Gods -- God's Dwelling Place as Shown in Children's Drawings: A Literature Review -- Aims of the Study -- Data Sample -- Method -- Drawing Task -- Coding Drawings -- Statistical Analysis -- Results -- Effects of Culture and Religion -- Effects of Age -- Effect of Children's Gender -- Effects of Religious or Regular Schooling Contexts -- Discussion -- Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 7: Where Gods Dwell? Part II: Embodied Cognition Approach and Children's Drawings of Gods.

The Embodied Cognition Approach and God Representation: A Literature Review -- Aims and Hypotheses -- Data Sample -- Method -- Drawing Task -- Annotation -- Statistical Analysis -- Results -- Control of Drawing Orientation and Composition Type -- Location of the God Figure in Relation to the Midline of the Page -- Predictors of an Up-Location of the God Figure -- Distribution of God Figures Across Three Parts of the Page: Down, Middle, Up -- Discussion -- Conclusion -- Limits of the Present Research and Potential Directions of Future Research -- References -- Part III: Focus on Material Features -- Chapter 8: Automated Colour Identification and Quantification in Children's Drawings of God -- Colour in Religion -- Colour in General Children's Drawings Research -- Colour in Children's Drawings of Gods -- Hypotheses and Aims -- Method -- Drawing Task -- Sample -- Automated Colour Identification -- Data Analysis -- Results -- Number of Colours Used in Drawings -- Country and/or Culture -- Gender -- Age -- Type of Schooling -- The Most Used Colours in the Whole Dataset -- The Most Used Colours by Country, Gender, Age, and Type of Schooling -- Country and/or Culture -- Gender -- Age -- Type of Schooling -- General Discussion -- Conclusion -- Limitations -- References -- Chapter 9: Computer Vision and Mathematical Methods Used to Analyse Children's Drawings of God(s) -- Method -- Dataset -- Features -- Gravity -- Colour Frequencies -- Colour Organization -- God Position -- Anthropomorphism -- Dissimilarities Based on Features -- Clustering Based on Dissimilarities -- Results -- Anthropomorphism -- Position and Gravity -- Position -- Gravity -- Combination of Position and Gravity -- Colour -- Colour Frequencies -- Colour Gravity -- Colour Organization -- Combination of Features Directly Extracted from the Drawing -- Combination of All Features.

Correlation Between Numeric Features -- Discussion -- References -- Part IV: Focus on Emotional Features and Attachment Style -- Chapter 10: Emotional Expression in Children's Drawings of God -- The Development of Expressive Drawing and Individual Differences -- The Case for Studying Emotional Expression in Children's Concept of God -- Research on Children's Drawings of God -- A Quantitative Examination on the Intensity and Valence of Emotional Expression in Children's Drawings of God -- Narrative Account of God and Theological Themes -- God is Sovereign and Ineffable -- God the Creator -- God Is Love, Peace, Watching over Us -- God Is Angry and Punishing -- Jesus' Crucifixion and/or Sacrifice -- God Is Our Friend, Our Guide -- Heaven and Hell -- Discussion -- References -- Chapter 11: Different Attachment Styles in Relation to Children's Drawings of God: A Qualitative Exploration of the Use of Symbols in a Dutch Sample -- Theoretical Framework: God Representations and Attachment Theory -- Attachment Relationships and Religion -- Children's Drawings of Gods and Attachment -- Empirical Research: Process, Findings, and New Questions -- Comparing Drawings by Securely and Insecurely Attached Children: A Qualitative Analysis -- Research Questions, Hypotheses and Attachment Questionnaire -- Method -- Results -- Images -- Discussion and Conclusion -- References -- Part V: Focus on Specific Cultural Contexts -- Chapter 12: Iranian Children's Drawings of God: Demographic and Contextual Considerations -- Method -- Population and Sample -- Instruments -- Procedure -- Data Analysis Methods -- Ethical Considerations -- Results -- Discussion -- Children's Representations of God -- Representations of God in Terms of Child's Gender -- Children's Representations of God in Terms of Their Age -- Children's Representations of God in Terms of Their Social Environment.

Masculinity-Femininity of the Representation of God in Terms of Participant's Gender and Age.