Parental and contextual influences on religious transmission in adolescence

Abstract

Prior research into the factors which contribute to religious development in adolescence has primarily focused on either societal or familial forces. The current study seeks to illuminate the role played by more mid-ranged, faith-based structures such as religious congregations and the faith traditions in which they operate. Using hierarchical linear modeling and a multi-dimensional approach to adolescent religiosity, the current study provides evidence that religious communities (both at the local and institutional level) play an important role in religious development from adolescence to emerging adulthood. Specifically, findings indicate that while parental transmission efforts significantly predict subsequent religiosity in every dimension, engagement with a religious congregation also predicts future levels of external religious practice, religious exclusivity, and belief in the supernatural. Furthermore, affiliation with a faith tradition that more highly prioritizes youth integration predicts future levels of personal religious practice. Implications for religion researchers, parents, and religious communities are discussed.

Acknowledgement

The National Study of Youth and Religion, https://youthandreligion.nd.edu/, whose data were used by permission here, was generously funded by Lilly Endowment Inc., under the direction of Christian Smith, of the Department of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame and Lisa Pearce, of the Department of Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Data availablity statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the Association of Religion Data Archives at https://www.thearda.com/Archive/NSYR.asp.

Notes

1 Throughout this manuscript we use the terms faith and religion as synonyms for the institutional and spiritual pursuit of meaning (see, Pargament, 1999). For clarity, faith tradition is used to indicate distal institutional traditions and structures (e.g., religious denominations) and religious communities is used to indicate proximal relationship networks of those with shared religious beliefs (e.g., the local congregation).

2 Age based identifiers can be ambiguous for this developmental period. In this manuscript, we use youth as a general term for individuals aged 13–24. By contrast, adolescent is used to signify individuals aged approximately 13–17 and emerging adult indicates individuals aged approximately 18–24.