Religious Commitment, Skepticism, and Struggle Among U.S. College Students: The Impact of Majority/Minority Religious Affiliation and Institutional Type

Abstract

Using a longitudinal sample of over 14,000 undergraduate students, this study explores whether and how students' religious transformations during the college years are associated with their religious affiliation, religious experiences, and the institutional characteristics of their college or university. Hierarchical linear modeling reveals that students from religious majority groups (i.e., mainline and evangelical Protestants) generally experience increased religious commitment and decreased religious skepticism as compared with students from religious minority groups. Interestingly, though, students from these majority groups also report greater levels of religious struggle compared to minority group students. Moreover, institutional religious affiliation and an inclusive campus religious climate often attenuate the relationship between students' religious affiliation and their religious transformation. Environments at both the macro (campus) and micro (friendship groups) levels contribute critically to young adults' religious commitment.

Growing Thinking Christians: An Investigation of the Outcomes of Christian Education

“…Furthermore, in 2000, Gay reported that for middle school and high school students, religious lessons and corporate worship promoted spiritual development by helping them to acquire a better understanding of their own beliefs as well as those held by other people. These findings corroborate those of Small and Bowman (2011) that evangelical students reported strengthening in their faith while in college (in contrast with other groups).…”

The Religious Context of Welfare Attitudes

“…Still others have emphasized the social power accompanying membership in particular denominations in particular nations (Kunovich 2009;Small and Bowman 2011). Nation-specific 7 Some scholars have made arguments reversing the causal relationship assumed in this research: that economic outcomes structure aggregate religiosity in nations (Solt, Habel, and Grant 2011).…”

“…Still others have emphasized the social power accompanying membership in particular denominations in particular nations (Kunovich ; Small and Bowman ). Nation‐specific majority religions are endowed with social and political power, and they have historically influenced state policies (Kahl ).…”

Examining the Role of the Catholic Environment in Students’ Search for Meaning

“…This study advances higher education theory by extending the findings of other ecological studies of spiritual development (Bryant, 2011;Small & Bowman, 2011) using a more nuanced measure of the Catholic environment. The findings also provide evidence that by attending to outcomes related to mission, faculty and student affairs educators at Catholic institutions play a vital role in students' spiritual exploration.…”

“…In addition, it illustrates that students' religious participation and interaction with others' with shared beliefs (Bowman & Small, 2010), and their cocurricular and curricular experiences (Bryant, 2011) all help to promote their spiritual development. Finally, the literature lends credence to our contention that institutional context matters (Kuh & Gonyea, 2006;Small & Bowman, 2011) and that a Catholic institutional context may provide clues as to how postsecondary institutions might support students' search for meaning.…”