MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE NATIONAL STUDY OF YOUTH AND RELIGION

Christian Smith, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers (Oxford, 2005) - www.youthandreligion.org

RELIGIOUS IDENTITY
Most (4 out of 5) U.S. teenagers embrace a religious identity and are affiliated with a religious organization.
The vast majority of teenagers (3 out of 4) in the U.S. Say they’re Christians. About half of American teenagers are Protestants and about 1 in 4 are Catholic.
ATTITUDE TOWARD RELIGION
Teenagers are not hostile toward religion—it’s not worth arguing about. Religion is no big deal.
Teenagers are “benignly positive” toward religion; even non-religious teenagers consider religion positive (“a Very Nice Thing”).
ROLE OF PARENTS
The single most important influence on, and predictor of, the religious and spiritual lives of adolescents is their
parents: “We get what we are.”
Teenagers are exceedingly conventional when it comes to religion; far from “seeking” their own spiritual paths,
the overwhelming number of U.S. teenagers follow in their parents’ footsteps when it comes to religion.
RELIGIOUS UNDERSTANDING
Spiritual and religious understanding are extremely very weak among American teenagers. The vast majority do
not seem not seem to know the basics of what their religion teaches.
Religious language is virtually non-existent in teenagers, both because they do not know it and because it is not
“P.C.” to use it. Mainline Protestant youth are the least religiously articulate teenagers, followed by Catholics.
THE PRACTICED FAITH OF AMERICAN TEENAGERS
Supply and demand matter to the spiritual lives of teenagers—e.g., the more churches invest in youth ministry
and youth ministers, the more likely teenagers are likely to practice faith. Churches that do no invest significantly
in young people find that youth do not invest in them.
Teenagers seem to share a tacit, unacknowledged common creed that the study calls “Moralistic Therapeutic
Deism,” distinct from the historically orthodox teachings of Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. Its purpose is to help
people get along. Its primary tenets include:
1. A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth.
2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and most world religions.
3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
4. God does not need to be involved in my life except when I need God to resolve a problem.
5. Good people go to heaven when they die.
RELIGIOUS IMPACT
Highly religious teenagers appear to be doing much better in life than less religious teenagers: they are more
hopeful, have a more positive outlook on the future, have better relationships with parents, better grades, cope
better with stress, etc.
Religious salience, understanding, and integration with daily life is highest among Mormon teenagers, followed
by conservative Protestants and black Protestants. Apart from non-religious teenagers and Jews (who may or
may not be religious), religion is least significant for mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic youth.
Controlling for other variables, Catholic teenagers showed the lowest levels of religious participation, faith
understanding, and significance assigned to religion. Two possible explanations:
1) lower levels of religious participation, faith understanding, and religious significance on the
part of Catholic parents, relative to Protestant parents;
2)  a lower emphasis assigned to youth ministry by the Catholic church compared to Protestant
churches, resulting in fewer Catholic youth groups, youth ministers, and resources for teens
(partly because of an assumption, no longer true, that most Catholic formation of teenagers
happens in Catholic schools)
Mormon teenagers seem to be faring best, followed by conservative Protestants. With rare exceptions
(i.e., Jews lit more candles), Mormons scored highest on every scale.

Religious Affiliations of U.S. Adolescents, Ages 13-17

(C. Smith, Soul Searching: The Spiritual and Religious Lives of American Teenagers [Oxford, 2005], 31).

Teen religious affiliation Percentages

Protestant 52

Catholic 23

Mormon 2.5

Jewish 1.5

Jehovah’s Witness 0.6

Muslim 0.5

Eastern Orthodox 0.3

Buddhist 0.3

Pagan or Wiccan 0.3

Hindu 0.1

Christian Science 0.1

Native American 0.1

Unitarian Universalist 0.1

Miscellaneous other 0.2

Don’t know/refused 1.8

Teen not religious 16

Teen affiliates with two different faiths 2.8

Source: National Survey of Youth and Religion, 2002-2003.

Note: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

3