American and Moroccan undergraduates encounter religious difference: an exploratory study

ABSTRACT

As emerging adult college students ponder their religious/spiritual beliefs and identities, those in religiously diverse countries (e.g. the USA) often encounter beliefs different from their own. These encounters can prompt new perspectives on their own beliefs and elicit responses from rejection to incorporation of the diverging belief, thus shaping students’ beliefs and identities going forwards. But do undergraduates in religiously homogeneous countries like Morocco have similar experiences of encounter and response? Here, 213 American and 78 Moroccan English-language university students wrote descriptions of encounters with, and responses to, others’ dissimilar religious views. Comparisons revealed expected differences (more self-chosen identities among those in the diverse context; older age at the encounter in the homogeneous context) and striking similarities (frequency of encounters with atheism; interpersonal relationships as the most common encounter setting). Across both samples, ‘incorporating others’ belief’ was the rarest response to encountering a difference, and women were more open to learning about divergent beliefs than men were. The roles of local and global contexts in exposure and response to religious diversity are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Religious pluralism
• learning
• cognitive development
• identity
• emerging adulthood

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sarah Henseler

Sarah E. Henseler is a full professor of Psychology in the School of Behavioral and Social Sciences at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, USA. Her specialization is Developmental Psychology and her research interests lie at the intersection of cognitive development, religious and spiritual worldviews, and identity.

Mary Grace Neville

Mary Grace Neville is a professor emeritus at Southwestern University in the USA and engaged in this research project while serving as the Dean of the School of Business Administration at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco (AUI). Her main research interests focus on ”good” business through lenses of social responsibility and aspirational human development. AUI was the first signatory school in Africa to join the United Nations' Principles for Responsible Management Education (UNPRME).

Hind Lebdaoui

Hind Lebdaoui is an assistant professor of finance at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco (AUI). Her area of study is Islamic Finance and correlated values, behaviors and implications of ethical investing.