Who Cares If I Stand on My Head When I Pray? Ritual Inflexibility and Mental-State Understanding in Preschoolers

During the preschool years, children understand prayer as a form of communication and are sensitive to the physical behaviours of prayer. Theorists have suggested a connection between the ability to reason about others’ mental states and the inflexible nature of religious rituals. Thus, the current study examined this connection in preschool children’s understanding of prayer. Child-parent dyads (N = 182) from multiple religious backgrounds were interviewed about their views on how people pray. Children additionally were tested for their understanding of others’ knowledge, specifically their understanding that God and humans may have limited knowledge. Analyses indicated that children who believed that prayer could not incorporate unconventional actions had parents who also advocated this view, indicating children’s views on prayer reflect the messages they receive about prayer from their parents. Additionally, controlling for age and parents’ views on prayer, children’s belief that prayer requires specific actions was significantly related to their understanding of the limitations of human knowledge, but not to their understanding of the limitations of God’s knowledge. These findings indicate that children view the functions of prayer actions as communicating to other humans, but not necessarily to God, the intentions to be praying.