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Make Believe Unmakes Belief?: Childhood Play Style and Adult Personality as Predictors of Religious Identity Change

Links between current religious status and both childhood play style and adult personality (Five-Factor Model) were explored in a Canadian undergraduate sample. The lifelong religious reported being less open to experience, but more agreeable and conscientious, relative to apostates (who left their childhood faith for no faith), switchers (who migrated to a different faith), converts (who adopted faith since childhood), and the lifelong nonreligious. Relative to the two lifelong groups, apostates and switchers—and, to a lesser extent, converts—reported stronger interest and engrossment in pretend play involving props, peer collaborators, and/or imaginary characters, as well as less interest in organized sports. A childhood predilection for pretend play may function as a marker of greater ability and willingness to consider the implications of experiencing the self in different roles in an “as if” world. In turn, this predisposition may eventuate in a significant ideological shift in response to unmet cognitive and/or emotional needs, consistent with current understandings of religious change.