Multiple Religious and Secular Definitions of Secular Adolescents in Israel

Abstract

AbstractThis study explores the validity of a novel theoretical model for assessing secularity and religiosity that proposes two dimensions — conceptual and inherited — in an effort to further refine the religious/secular dichotomy applied in research to date. These new dimensions describe the manner in which people structure their world, religious or secular world as the case may be, and the significance they ascribe to it. The study, conducted among grade 12 students (N=100) in state (secular) schools in Israel, revealed that only five of the eight types in the theoretical model are manifested empirically: three secular (conceptual, inherited and integrative) and two religious (conceptual and inherited). It posits that the concepts “religious” and “secular” are comprehensive and cannot fully describe the complexity of an individual’s self- and public definition in a modern, pluralistic world.