Religious Exploration in a Modern World: The Case of Modern-Orthodox Jews in Israel

Abstract

In moderate religious communities, adolescents and young adults are increasingly exposed to modern ideas and lifestyles and thus may face a potential tension between religion and modernity. The current study investigated the exploration processes of one hundred and four Jewish Modern Orthodox higher education students in Israel. The participants responded to semi-open-ended questionnaires regarding their way of coping with religious issues. A thematic analysis identified three different religious exploration styles and one non-exploration style. The findings concerning the character of the different exploration styles raise questions concerning long-held assumptions about the nature of exploration. The findings further point to the need for new conceptualizations in the domains of exploration and identity formation, particularly, but not only, in the domain of religion.