The Effects Of Religious School and Family On Religiosity In College

Robert D. Abels
Dr. Victoria Mayer, Dr. Brian Ott, and Dr. Amber Johnson, Faculty Mentors

College has often had a reputation of creating secular students, by exposing them to new ideas away from the influence of their families.  But many students remain religious, despite being exposed to new ideas, that are possibly contradictory to their faith. That said, a person’s faith may change and evolve.  Does the influence of past religious schooling and family create a greater likelihood of a student to remain religious in college? Utilizing surveys, I collected data on the religiosity of college students at Truman State University.  A total religiosity score was generated for each participant. The results indicate that participants with religious mothers and fathers, and those with religious education at the high school level have a higher level of religiosity than participants who do not.  The conclusion argues in favor of the idea that students with religious parents and education in high school will be more religious in college.

 

Keywords: college, university, religion, faith, school, religiosity

Topic(s):Sociology

Presentation Type: Oral Presentation

Session: TBA
Location: TBA
Time: TBA