Religious Identity: An Autophotographic Study

Abstract

This article uses the method of autophotography to study religious identity. University students (N = 511) completed photographic essays in response to the question, "who are you?" Religious sentiments were coded in 28% of these photo essays, including identifications by social groups or affiliations, as well as more personal identities illustrated by sacred objects, activities, and places. The religion photo code was found to have moderate validity, established via correlations with questionnaire and daily log measures of religiosity. Criterion validities were slightly stronger for women than men and strongest for those 30 or more years of age. In support of construct validity, the religion photo code correlated positively with prosocial and negatively with substance-use behaviors in a behavior checklist. Presence of religious photos also correlated with a number of items in Schwartz's (1992) modification of the Rokeach Values Survey, notably with lesser endorsement of the cluster of hedonistic values (e.g., pleasure) as well as stimulation values (e.g., an exciting life) and greater endorsement of benevolence values (e.g., forgiving) as well as the individual values of devout and a spiritual life. Supplementary results suggest that single-item measures (e.g., frequency of prayer or church attendance) have considerable validity. I conclude that laypersons, like researchers, construe religious identity in many different ways, ranging from the social to the personal, and that such identities have meaningful correlates. I suggest that the autophotographic method may be most useful in qualitative studies of religiosity.