Psychology

“There’s more between heaven and earth”: Danish emerging adults’ religious beliefs and values

Document Type

Article

Abstract

In a qualitative interview study, 18 Danish emerging adults (ages 18-27) were asked about their religious beliefs and moral views. Most had received little or no formal religious training within their families, but they nevertheless participated in the “confirmation” process in the Danish state Lutheran church at age 14. Regarding their current beliefs, the majority were nonbelievers (agnostic, atheist, or no beliefs), and none expressed a traditional Christian faith. Nevertheless, they held a variety of beliefs in some kind of life after death; relatively few participants believed that death is simply the end of existence. In the two questions assessing moral views, participants drew from the Ethic of Autonomy and the Ethic of Community, but not the Ethic of Divinity. This finding also indicated the absence of religious considerations in the lives of Danish emerging adults. Overall, the results provide further information on the religious and moral beliefs of emerging adults, and on views of religious questions in an exceptionally nonreligious country.

Publication Title

Journal of Adolescent Research

Publication Date

2015

Volume

30

Issue

6

First Page

661

Last Page

682

ISSN

0743-5584

DOI

10.1177/0743558415602555

Keywords

early/emerging adulthood, global/international issues, morality, religion

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