A multi-dimensional study of primary school children’s drawings of God

Abstract This study provides a quantitative analysis of drawings of God by 12–14-year-old students ( N = 764) from Hungarian Catholic primary schools, both with and without art education programmes. The colours of the drawings were analysed using computer vision; furthermore, we examined the anthropomorphic nature of the representations, their gender attributes, stereotypical elements, Christian motifs, the degree to which the figure of God filled the drawing surface, and its position on that surface. The relationships between these visual characteristics and the children’s religiosity, academic performance, and art education background were explored. According to the results, the depiction of God as a being and in an anthropomorphic form decreases with age. Better academic performance was associated with a weak but significant tendency towards more frequent use of blue and orange and less frequent use of achromatic colours, as well as a less anthropomorphic representation of God. Stronger religiosity among students shows a positive correlation with the depiction of God as a being, whilst it negatively influences the use of the colour blue. Gender differences are apparent in the mode of representation: two stereotypical features occur more frequently in girls’ drawings, namely white or luminous clothing and the depiction of a halo or aureole.