The Impact of Ritual Participation on Perceived Moral Objectivity: A Longitudinal Investigation of the U.S. Adolescents

Abstract

How people perceive morality plays a crucial role in their behavior and moral decision making. However, we have little understanding of the factors that drive the perception of morality as objectively existing. This study examines the impact of religion, specifically religious rituals, in promoting the perception of morality as objective. I analyzed two waves (2003, 2013) of the National Study of Youth and Religion to test whether religious participation during respondents’ adolescence predicted their perceived moral objectivity 10 years later. Moreover, I estimated the difference in effects for those who anchored moral decision making on religious and secular grounds. Ritual participation in 2003 was positively associated with moral objectivity in 2013. This association was stronger for respondents who grounded their morality in religion and who had powerful religious experience. The results point to the essential role of adolescence period in forming moral views.