Religious Acculturation

Abstract

Acculturation refers to the adaptive processes that are necessary for living in a multicultural world. Religious acculturation refers to the ways in which religious‐minority adolescents negotiate their religious identity, beliefs, and practices as they live in a multicultural context that includes different religious or secular groups. Studies on religious identity development, on the one hand, and its link to multiple cultural allegiances, on the other, highlight the central role that religiosity plays in the acculturation experiences and relationships of minority adolescents with an immigrant background. Empirical evidence suggests that religious identity is transmitted and reinforced in immigrant families through processes similar to those of ethnic identity; there is little support for the common assumption that religiosity per se precludes identification and integration of minority adolescents with mainstream cultures and groups. Acculturation framework contextualizes minority adolescents' religiosity and its development by identifying social–cultural influences and intergroup processes that affect the continuity, reaffirmation, and decline in religiosity over generations and across situations in which acculturation occurs.