A Culturally Sensitive Approach to the Relationships between Identity Formation and Religious Beliefs in Youth

Abstract

Youth encounter issues of religion in the process of identity formation. However, most prior studies have focused on Christian youth in Western counties. This study examined the relationship between identity formation and religious beliefs in the Eastern national context where Buddhism and non-institutional folk religions are prevalent. Participants were 969 Japanese youth (51.3% female; M = 20.1). Both literal and symbolic religious beliefs were included and both a variable- and person-oriented approach were used based on the three-factor identity model. The results from the variable-oriented approach (i.e., identity processes) demonstrated that identity commitment was positively associated with literal religious beliefs, whereas reconsideration of commitment was positively associated with both literal and symbolic religious beliefs. Findings from the person-oriented approach (i.e., identity statuses) confirmed these results. Overall, this study highlights the importance of religious beliefs in the process of identity formation among youth in an Eastern national context.

The Struggle to Find Meaning: A Mixed Methodology Study on Meaning-Making and Identity

“…Second, we did not include cultural factors that might influence the meaning-making process. For example, recent research (i.e., Sugimura, Matsushima, Hihara, Takahashi, & Crocetti, 2018) suggested that religious beliefs that are associated with identity reconsideration (or identity uncertainty) may reflect a struggle to find meaning. Hence, the embeddedness of the results might be specific to the Romanian cultural context, especially in terms of the high levels of religiosity specific to this cultural background (Negru, Haragâs, & Mustea, 2014).…”

Adolescent Identity Development in Japan

“…The finding that adolescents in diffusion in both educational and friendship domains had higher hikikomori symptoms than those in achievement or foreclosure may support this interpretation. Another study (Sugimura, Matsushima, Hihara, Takahashi, & Crocetti, 2019) examined the connection between identity and religious beliefs in Japan, where Buddhism and noninstitutional folk religion are prevalent. Adolescents with both achievement and searching moratorium in the global domain (a composite of education and friendship) had the highest beliefs in mystic forces in life and natural phenomena, and those with diffusion had the lowest beliefs in these areas.…”

Roles of Configurations of Multiple Identity Domains in Adaptive and Maladaptive Functioning in Japanese Emerging Adults: Using a Culturally Relevant Index

“…Foreclosure exhibited moderate or slightly low scores on commitment. Given that this feature has been reported as typical in Japanese youth (Hatano et al, 2016;Sugimura et al, 2019) and the key feature of foreclosure is trying to maintain one's current position and denying disconfirming information (Kroger & Marcia, 2011), we adopted the label of foreclosure. Concerning parsimony, the seven-cluster solution added a cluster that was extremely similar to as the achievement cluster and did not add variation in both domains.…”

“…Identity formation in Japanese emerging adults differs from that in Western youth. Empirical evidence has demonstrated that approximately 50% Japanese youth are characterized by unstable moratorium-related statuses (i.e., moratorium or searching moratorium; Hatano, Sugimura, & Crocetti, 2016; Sugimura, Matsushima, Hihara, Takahashi, & Crocetti, 2019). In contrast, approximately 37% of European youth are characterized as being in moratorium-related statuses (cf.…”