Protestant Millennials, Religious Doubt, & the Local Church
Journal Title: Religions - Year 2018, Vol 9, Issue 1
Abstract
Millennials are the most analyzed and populous generation in the United States. Collectively, they have been slowly re-shaping the American culture. Protestant Millennials, a subset of this generation, have been ruffling feathers in their local churches. Many, who once regularly attended, are leaving. Unwise responses by local church leaders to their young parishioners’ doubting habits significantly contributed to the departure. This study pursued a sample of college-aged Protestant Millennials to know them in a psychological sense. The intentions were twofold: to discover social personality traits that predict their doubting practices and to develop practical and proactive relational strategies for local church leaders. Self-report data on personality features and doubt phenomena were obtained from 532 religiously committed undergraduates in the United States. Results from multivariate regression procedures revealed three social personality dispositions contributed to the prediction of the doubt constructs. Implications and applications of the findings are discussed.
Authors and Affiliations
Keith A. Puffer
Contemplative Science and Secular Ethics
This article argues that the emerging project of contemplative science will be best served if it is informed by two perspectives. First, attention should be paid not only to non-analytical and/or mindfulness-based prac...
Hindu Students and Their Missionary Teachers: Debating the Relevance of Rebirth in the Colonial Indian Academy
This essay provides a meta-narrative for the philosophical dialogues that took place in colonial India between Scottish missionary philosophers and philosophers of Vedanta on the topic of ¯ karma and rebirth. In partic...
Medicine for the Spirit: Religious Coping in Individuals with Medical Conditions
Religious coping now represents a key variable of interest in research on health outcomes, not only because many individuals turn to their faith in times of illness, but also because studies have frequently found that...
Penitence, Confession, and the Power of Submission in Late Medieval Women's Religious Communities
This article argues that depictions of penance and confession in late medieval "Sisterbooks," which were written by women religious for communal use, show that medieval women understood religious authority to be enhanc...
“Santísima Muerte, Vístete de Negro, Santísima Muerte, Vístete de Blanco”: La Santa Muerte’s Illegal Marginalizations
La Santísima Muerte, the death saint patron of the marginalized and dispossessed in Mexico, the United States, and beyond, is especially favored by devotees who identify with her duality between dark and light, and goo...