{"id":6403,"date":"2022-03-16T10:49:18","date_gmt":"2022-03-16T14:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=6403"},"modified":"2022-03-16T10:49:18","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T14:49:18","slug":"new-study-shows-interesting-link-between-academic-success-and-religious-upbringing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2022\/03\/new-study-shows-interesting-link-between-academic-success-and-religious-upbringing.html","title":{"rendered":"New Study Shows Interesting Link Between Academic Success and Religious Upbringing"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve known for years that there\u2019s a link<\/a> between faith and happiness. Now, new data shows a connection between religious upbringing and academic performance. In her latest book, \u201cGod, Grades, and Graduation: Religion\u2019s Surprising Impact on Academic Success,\u201d author Ilana Horwitz, who\u2019s also an assistant professor in the Department of Jewish Studies at Tulane University, recently shared with Deseret News<\/a> that believing God is watching over you, especially for children, incentivizes \u201cconscientious, cooperative\u201d behavior.<\/p>\n

That tidbit makes some sense of Horwitz\u2019s\u00a0recently published research, which shows teens who are \u201cintensely\u201d committed to their faith \u201care more likely than average to earn higher GPAs and complete more college education.\u201d The professor characterizes \u201cintensely religious\u201d people as those who \u201csee religion as very important, attend religious services at least once a week, pray at least once a day, and believe in God with absolute certainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Horwitz checked numerous studies for her research and concluded roughly one-quarter of American teenagers fit that description. Horwitz classifies those American teens as \u201cabiders.\u201d After studying\u00a0data collected by the National Study of Youth and Religion, which occasionally surveyed 3,290 teenagers from 2003 until 2012, she concluded that, on average, abiders had a roughly 10% lead over other participants. She found that not only do they perform better in school, but they are also more likely to pursue a college education.<\/p>\n

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Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The tricky part is figuring out why that\u2019s the case. Horowitz theorized that a great deal of it is because teachers are drawn to respectful, rule-following students, traits often found in religious students. Some of it may come from parents who are deeply involved in their child\u2019s lives. Horowitz said, \u201cIt could be the case that a kid who is really religious is more likely to have parents who sit and do homework with them and be really involved in their school.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Horowitz, one potential downside worth mentioning is that many religious teenagers are scared to take risks and might not take big chances, potentially forfeiting good opportunities. Abiders, for example, might choose to stay close to home rather than venturing out. Horowitz said, \u201cThey are very comfortable in the life they have and nervous about college because they have heard that college is a place where religious beliefs will be questioned, and professors are liberal. They seek social homogeneity.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also noted that just because a teenager earns high marks in school doesn\u2019t mean it will translate to real-life success and stability.\u201cYou could be really good at \u2018doing school\u2019 and knowing how to navigate routines and regulations and rules, but that may not prepare you to function in life,\u201d Horwitz said. For example, abiders could be very book smart but may not have all the street smarts to survive in the real world.<\/p>\n

Overall, there\u2019s nothing wrong with being an abider. It means that you know how to follow the rules and you\u2019re a hardworking person. However, don\u2019t let being an abider keep you away from taking chances in life. Sometimes, you have to take a leap of faith.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve known for years that there\u2019s a link between faith and happiness. Now, new data shows a connection between religious upbringing and academic performance. In her latest book, \u201cGod, Grades, and Graduation: Religion\u2019s Surprising Impact on Academic Success,\u201d author Ilana Horwitz, who\u2019s also an assistant professor in the Department of Jewish Studies at Tulane University,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":6406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[742,741],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church","category-faith"],"yoast_head":"\nNew Study Shows Interesting Link Between Academic Success and Religious Upbringing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2022\/03\/new-study-shows-interesting-link-between-academic-success-and-religious-upbringing.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Study Shows Interesting Link Between Academic Success and Religious Upbringing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We\u2019ve known for years that there\u2019s a link between faith and happiness. Now, new data shows a connection between religious upbringing and academic performance. 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Now, new data shows a connection between religious upbringing and academic performance. 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