Youth Religiosity: A Bibliometric Coverage and Quantitative Assesemnt of Internal and External Dimensions

Abstract

Due to its complex character, the evaluation of the way an individual is religious involves multidimensional approaches, which includes both aspects of creeds and effective manifestation. The exhaustive bibliometric analysis reveals eight main research themes of interest, at the interaction of religiosity and youth. In the context of assessing religiosity, the paper further provides an analysis of the religious phenomenon among Romanian adolescents and young adults. It employs an exploratory factor analysis for identifying the specific religiosity dimensions, and principal components analysis for reducing dimensionality and for a more in-depth analysis. Both adolescents and young adults exhibit a relatively strong level of internal religiosity, which pertains to personal beliefs and faith. Additionally, both groups demonstrate a moderate level of external religiosity, which refers to religious practices and behaviours.