Implicit religion, explicit religion and purpose in life: an empirical enquiry among 13- to 15-year-old adolescents

Abstract

In his analysis of the construct “implicit religion” Edward Bailey speaks of those individuals “who believe in Christianity” but who do not display the behaviours of explicit religion, like church attendance. A recent research tradition has tried to operationalise this understanding of implicit religion by studying those who believe that they can be a Christian without going to church. A longer established research tradition has demonstrated the association between explicit religiosity and an enhanced sense of purpose in life. The aim of the present study is to test the hypothesis that implicit religiosity (in the sense of believing that you can be a Christian without going to church) is also associated with an enhanced sense of purpose in life. Data provided by a sample of 25,825 13- to 15-year-old adolescents support this hypothesis. In turn these findings support the notion that implicit religion (in the sense operationalised by this study) fulfils some functions similar to those fulfilled by explicit religion.