Religion and Atheism: How religious beliefs affects social behavior of Grade 11 HUMSS

students at Arellano University Juan Sumulong Campus

Submitted by:

Abad, Ashley N.
Almario, Dione Karyl L.
Barrosa, Phoemela J.
Belarde, Alona Charyll F.
Brito, Maggie Mae D.
Dizon, Maria Angelica B.
Mores, Judylyn P.
Quiñopa, Ttrixie P.
Tatel, Hannah Mariz L.
Torres, Denise D.
Arellano, Ezekiel U.
Galleso, John Vincent P.
Martin, Kerwin Hashley E.
Mondragon, Mark Joven B.
Valdes, Mc Kenneth A.
Valeriano, Ian Dave A.
Villaluna, Ron Jon A.
Yasol, Jobel P.
 Chapter I

A. Background of the Study

Religion refers to a belief in a divine entity or deity. Moreover, religion is about the
presence of God who is controlling the entire world. Different people have different
beliefs. And due to this belief, many different cultures exist. Further, there are a series of
rituals performed by each religion. On the other hand, Atheism is not an affirmative
belief that there is no god nor does it answer any other question about what a person
believes. It is simply a rejection of the assertion that there are gods. Atheism is too often
defined incorrectly as a belief system.

Religion gives people something to believe in. It provides a sense of structure and
typically offers a group of people to connect with over similar beliefs. These facets can
have a large positive impact on mental health—research suggests that religiosity reduces
suicide rates, alcoholism and drug use. Atheism can cause the human faces a lot of
situations and incidents that make oneself think of such questions, such as pestilence,
disasters, losing of family members or loved ones, as well as the calamities that make us
humans think of our own destiny and future. Because atheism is a doctrine based on the
assumption that there is no God and no spirituality, it does not offer anything to help
humans deal with this confusion, anxiety, and obscurity, and the mystery of life is still
confusing to these individual.

Religion has an impact on human behavior in all element of our life since we are
required to follow certain norms, morals, and standards. Religion has left an imprint on
our psyche as a way of thinking, acting, and making decisions. When issues become too
much for a person to bear, they frequently turn to God for assistance. Some students pray
to God if they are unable to complete their modules, especially if they are one day late.
Each person has different perspectives about religion, faith, beliefs and how to approach
it. Central to all religion is the concept of faith. Beliefs are part of our culture, and in
several chances, the society adapt it. These beliefs influence our social behavior and
determine our actions.

Religious and atheist people don't really have that much difference other than their
beliefs, despite that situation they can still hangout and be friends, they can still act just
like how normal people act around. They can influence each other but it depends by their
will and faith. Most religions use positive and negative reinforcement to encourage moral
behavior by including 'god-fearing' elements in their scriptures, such as the Hindu
concept of karma and reincarnation, Christianity's heaven-hell and salvation, Islam's
paradise and hell, and indigenous religions' peaceful afterlife and reincarnation.
B. Statement of the Problem

The study aimed to determine how religious beliefs affect the social behavior of
Grade 11 HUMSS students at Arellano University Juan Sumulong Campus. To obtain all
the essential knowledge and information, the research sought to answer the questions as
follow:

1. What effect does religion have on human behavior?

2. What role does religion play in the lives of people?

3. How religious beliefs affect others?

4. What is an atheist’s social behavior?

5. Does religion influence atheist?

C. Scope and Delimitation

The study will primarily determine the impact of religious beliefs on social behavior.
The students of Arellano University Juan Sumulong Campus are the main target of the
study. The respondents will be limited to ten (10) female and male Grade 11 students
who are in the HUMSS strand of Arellano University Juan Sumulong Campus.

In addition, it doesn’t matter if a person believes that people develop these belief systems
to adapt and function, or if existing beliefs influence religious attitudes. Although, they
concluded that the concept of religion is that it affects the social behavior that exists to
make people act in a moral and ethical way. This study considers every aspect of the
student’s personal information that has a religious impact on social behavior.

D. Significance of the Study

  To the learners, this study will give them awareness about the effects of religion
and atheism on the social behavior of everyone. This study will benefit the new
generation to let them be mindful that religious beliefs and atheist beliefs may be
different but their social behavior still have in common.

 To the community, the goal of this research is to educate people about different
types of religion and their social behavior. Majority of people thinks that being an
atheist is against catholicism or religion itself. Mostly, catholics are the one that
see any other religion against them. Religious people tend to judge other by their
beliefs not with their attitude. So, we researchers would like to explore this topic
to further not just ours but also societies knowledge about this topic.

 To the educators, it may give the teachers idea on how does religious behavior
affects the students. It may help them connect more with their students who has
their own religious beliefs, it can be tackled thoroughly and detailed.

E. Definition of Terms

 God fearing - Fearing God means both bowing in utter reverence and respect
before the One who created the world. Fear is rooted both in awe and in terror,
and this is not a bad thing. God, the almighty ruler of the universe, is indeed all-
powerful.

(Jessica Brodie)

 Islam - The term ‘Islamic,’ correspondingly, must be restricted to “of or

pertaining to Islam in the proper, the religious sense. Islamicate” would refer not
directly to the religion, Islam, itself but to the social and cultural complex
historically associated with Islam and the Muslims.

(Hodgson)

 Spirituality - Spirituality is the aspect of humanity that refers to the way

individuals seek and express meaning and purpose and the way they experience
their connectedness to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, and to the
significant or sacred.

(Christina Puchalski, MD)

 Salvation - The deliverance of humankind from such fundamentally negative or

disabling conditions as suffering, evil, finitude, and death. In some religious
beliefs it also entails the restoration or raising up of the natural world to a higher
 realm or state. The idea of salvation is a characteristic religious notion related to
an issue of profound human concern.

(Samuel G.F. Brandon)

 Ethics - Ethics, also called moral philosophy, the discipline concerned with what
is morally good and bad and morally right and wrong. The term is also applied to
any system or theory of moral values or principles.

(Peter Singer)

 Psyche - which was inspired by the teachings of Socrates, considered the psyche
(ψυχή) to be the essence of a person, being that which decides how people
behave.

(Plato)

 Deity - The word deity means "divine nature." The divine nature of deities is
believed to be immortal goodness and powerfulness.

(Saint Augustine)

 Moral Behavior - To act in a way that is consistent with one's moral principles
and standards. When children share, help, cooperate, communicate, sympathize,
or in any other way show that they care about others, they are demonstrating
prosocial and moral behavior.

(Victoria Talwar)

 Reincarnation - It means we leave one existence and enter another for the sole
purpose of soul development and spiritual progress. Depending on the moral
dimension of the previous life's acts, the soul may adopt the incarnation of a
human, animal, or plant.

(Indian Journal of Psychiatry 2015)

F. Theoretical Framework

This study is supported by the theory of John B. Watson (1913) behavioral theory, it is
a learning theory based on the principle that all behaviors are learned through conditioning,
which takes place through interaction with the environment. Environmental cues, according
to behaviorists, shape human actions. Regardless of interior mental processes, conduct may
be investigated in a systematic and observable manner. According to behavioral theory, only
observable behavior should be taken into account because cognition, emotions, and mood are
just too subjective.
Through this theory, researchers can learn that our behavioral attitude is affected by our
environment. In a study, Theists - regardless of religious affiliation - receive the benefit of
being stereotyped as trustworthy and moral (Hall, Cohen, Mayer, Varley, & Brewer, 2015),
whereas atheists are viewed as untrustworthy and morally uninhibited (Gervais, 2014a;
Gervais, Shariff, & Norenzayan, 2011). Behaviorism arose in the early 1900s as a reaction to
depth psychology and other traditional forms of psychology, which often struggled to make
predictions that could be tested experimentally, but it was based on earlier research from the late
1800s, such as Edward Thorndike's pioneering of the law of effect, a procedure that used
consequences to strengthen or weaken behavior.
References:

https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/about-atheism/

https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/December-2016/The-Mental-Health-Benefits-of-
Religion-Spiritual

https://www.westeastinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Ebtisam-Alfaleh.pdf

(Hall, Cohen, Mayer, Varley, & Brewer, 2015), uninhibited

Gervais, W. M., Shariff, A. F., & Norenzayan, A. (2011). Do you believe in atheists?
Distrust is
central to anti-atheist prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101,
1189-1206.

Gervais, W. M. (2014a). Everything is permitted? People intuitively judge immorality as

representative of atheists. PLoS One, 9, 1-9

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3705678/

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154543

https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-0-387-79061-9_1829

http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Awareness