The research study found that trainees in Muslim countries demonstrated enhanced efficiency after an intensive Ramadan fasting duration compared to a less extreme Ramadan.
A recent research study, which included Konstanz economist Guido Schwerdt, has actually discovered that longer everyday fasting periods throughout Ramadan have an useful influence on the academic efficiency of Muslim youth after the fasting month.
Each year, over one billion Muslims observe the quick during Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. Together with avoiding food and drink in between daybreak and sunset, lots of participants increase their engagement in social activities throughout this time, such as breaking the fast with loved ones, buddies, and the community after night prayers.
Financial experts from Konstanz, Cologne, and Bern have actually recently concluded in a research study that the social elements of Ramadan, particularly, seem to have a beneficial result on the scholastic performance of adolescent fans. The findings of the research study were published in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization.
Enhanced performance through increased social capital
In the research study, the scientists take a look at the question of whether Ramadan fasting has an effect on the school efficiency of eighth graders that lasts beyond the fasting period and whether this result is related to the intensity of fasting. Their finding: Although the physically requiring fasting is known to have negative impacts on concentration during the fasting period, trainees in Muslim countries performed much better in the global school efficiency study TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) after extensive Ramadan fasting than after a less intensive Ramadan.
Since more intensive fasting is also connected with increased involvement in spiritual activities such as spiritual services, the authors recommend that the increased school performance is due in specific to the social elements of fasting. “Our research study suggests that participating in spiritual practice promotes the formation of a shared identity among school students and increases social capital that works for academic success. This consists of, for instance, contact with other young individuals of greater socio-economic status, support and help, or acknowledgment and understanding,” specifies Guido Schwerdt, professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Konstanz.
Why Ramadan as a case research study?
As the Islamic calendar and the solar calendar differ, Ramadan happens a couple of days earlier each year in the solar calendar. Because the length of the day depends on the season, daily Ramadan fasting hours likewise vary from year to year. “This results in natural variations throughout the years in the strength of fasting among followers in a given area, which we connected to school efficiency information collected after each Ramadan,” Schwerdt explains.
The analysis of the multi-year TIMSS data revealed in detail that increased fasting intensity is connected with better school performance in countries with a majority Muslim population. In countries where the bulk are non-Muslim, there was no such result. “Using multi-year PISA information from eight Western European countries, we were in addition able to show that teenagers with moms and dads from nations with a Muslim bulk performed better on the PISA test in years with longer everyday fasting relative to other teenagers than in years with low fasting intensity,” Schwerdt adds. This impact is higher in schools with a high percentage of Muslim trainees than in schools with a lower proportion– another sign that the social elements of spiritual activity and the development of a typical identity contribute here.
Recommendation: “Religious practice and trainee performance: Evidence from Ramadan fasting” by Erik Hornung, Guido Schwerdt and Maurizio Strazzeri, 18 November 2022, Journal of Economic Behavior & & Organization.DOI: 10.1016/ j.jebo.2022.10.025.
The study was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) within the structure of the Excellence Strategy.
Due to the fact that more intensive fasting is likewise associated with increased participation in spiritual activities such as religious services, the authors recommend that the increased school efficiency is due in specific to the social aspects of fasting. Since the length of the day depends on the season, everyday Ramadan fasting hours also differ from year to year. “This results in natural variations over the years in the intensity of fasting amongst believers in an offered area, which we connected to school performance information collected after each Ramadan,” Schwerdt discusses.
“Using multi-year PISA data from eight Western European countries, we were additionally able to show that adolescents with parents from nations with a Muslim bulk performed better on the PISA test in years with longer daily fasting relative to other adolescents than in years with low fasting intensity,” Schwerdt adds.
