Religiosity in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood

Abstract

Without Abstract Overview According to lEA Civic Education Study, approximately half of American adolescents participate in religious groups (Torney-Purta et al. 200I) and half of American 18-24-year-olds report religious beliefs to be important (lnglehart et al. 2004). Thus, religious experiences are an important aspect of the lives of many adolescents and emerging adults (approximately ages 18 to the mid-20s) in the USA. Specifically, adolescents are fully immersed in identity exploration and ideally resolve this search in emerging adulthood. They embark on a quest to solidify their values and beliefs about countless issues, including religiosity. This essay will review the literature on religiosity among adolescents and emerging adults. First, terms are defined and then the developmental underpinnings that support young people's religiosity are discussed. Next, theories and empirical work on religious development are articulated. Thereafter, literature on prevalence rates of religiosity and their psychological and behavioral correlates are reviewed. Then, research on the socializing agents of religiosity is summarized followed by a discussion of individual and group differences in religiosity. The essay concludes with future directions for scholarship and implications. Definitions Although the essay examines religiosity, it is important to note its conceptual relatedness to spirituality. While scholars agree on the multifaceted nature of both constructs (e.g., Moberg 2002), they disagree as to which is broader (for a review, see Zinnbauer and Pargament 2005). Nevertheless, there is an increasing subgroup of spiritual, but not religious people; subgroups of religious, but not spiritual appear uncommon (Zinnbauer et al. 1999). In the current essay, Miller and Thoresen's (2003) approach is utilized, such that religiosity encompasses organized and institutional aspects, and