The intergenerational transmission of religious services attendance

Publication type

Journal Article

Authors

Publication date

June 1, 2012

Summary:

Religious change is often described with aggregate figures on affiliation, practice and belief.
Such studies tell us that secularisation happens because each cohort is less religious than the one
before, and that socialisation in childhood and habits formed in young adulthood are overwhelmingly
responsible for religious decline. In this article we use data from the International
Social Survey Programme to consider the extent and magnitude of religious decline at the level
of families, whether parental influence is greater in more religious countries, and which individual
variables influence the intergenerational transmission of religious practice and whether these
vary between different countries.We find that secularisation happens largely because many people
are a little less religious than their parents, and relatively few are more religious. We also
find that the patterns of transmission are remarkably stable: parents are no more influential in
religious countries than in nonreligious countries, and there is no indication that they have lost
influence over time.

Published in

Nordic Journal of Religion and Society

Volume and page numbers

Volume: 25 , p.131 -150

ISSN

8097291

Subjects

Link

http://tapir.pdc.no/pdf/NJRS/2012/2012-02-2.pdf

#521264

News

Latest findings, new research

Publications search

Search all research by subject and author

Podcasts

Researchers discuss their findings and what they mean for society

Projects

Background and context, methods and data, aims and outputs

Events

Conferences, seminars and workshops

Survey methodology

Specialist research, practice and study

Taking the long view

ISER's annual report

Themes

Key research themes and areas of interest