Religious Influence on Parental Attitudes Toward the Use of Corporal Punishment (pdf)

"The purpose of this research was to determine if persons affiliated with religious denominations which emphasized a literal belief in the Bible would demonstrate less appropriate attitudes with regard to disciplining children than their counterparts who were affiliated with religious denominations which do not subscribe to a literal interpretation of the Bible. Statistically significant differences were noted with persons, regardless of gender or their level of education, who were members of churches subscribing to a literal belief in the Bible preferring the use of corporal punishment over alternate methods of discipline as compared to their nonliteral counterparts."