Religious Change and Secularization: The Transmission of Religious Values in Australia

Abstract

More individuals currently eschew a religion than at any time in this century. In Australia, more than one in ten do not have a religious affiliation. Three explanations have been put forward to account for this trend toward secularization: (1) continued socioeconomic development and a consequent undermining of religious explanations; (2) life cycle effects and the differing approaches to it; and (3) generational change. This paper systematically tests these three explanations by applying multivariate analysis to survey data collected in 1979. The results show that the socioeconomic development and life cycle explanations have significant, though limited, validity. By contrast, much of the trend towards secularization can be accounted for by generational change and, more specifically, to different religious socialization across generations. The findings also suggest that the growth in the proportion with no religion has been substantially at the expense of Anglicans, rather than Catholics. This emphasizes the argument that when the social climate is unfavorable to religion, groups which demand more commitment from their adherents fare better than those that demand less commitment.