Attitude towards Christianity, Creationism, Scientism and Interest in Science Among 11‐15 Year Olds

Abstract

Six thousand and ninety five eleven‐fifteen year old pupils in non‐denominational, Roman Catholic and independent schools in Scotland completed scales of attitude towards Christianity, interest in science, scientism and perception of Christianity as necessarily involving creationism. The data are analysed to explore the role of scientism and perception of Christianity as necessarily involving creationism in accounting for the apparent negative relationship between attitude towards Christianity and interest in science. Both factors are found to contribute to pupils’ difficulty in combining interest in science with positive attitudes towards Christianity. The implications of these findings for curriculum development are discussed.