Socialization Agents Influencing the Religious Identity of Religious Israeli Adolescents

Abstract

Of all the dimensions of religiosity, where the Israeli religious adolescent is concerned, faith identity and religious behavior seem the most relevant. Research findings on the relative influence of various socialization agents on the religiosity of adolescents are ambiguous. The primary objective of this study was to compare the various agents that influence the religious identity of religious Israeli adolescents. Four-hundred and sixty-two religious Israeli adolescents from grades 7 through 14 responded to the following three questionnaires: Faith Identity (Fisherman 2002), Religious Behavior (Fisherman 2002), and Influence of Socialization Agents on Faith Identity and Religious Behavior (Fisherman 2011). Parental influence on religious identity was higher than the influence of friends for both genders and all age groups. Teacher influence on religious identity was differential according to gender, age, and area of influence.