WHAT IS THE YOUTH & RELIGION PROJECT?

This project explores the development of reasoning about religious norms and practices among both religious and secular middle and high school students in the areas surrounding San Francisco and the Monterey Bay. The research will investigate several important questions about how religious and secular youth think about religious practices and norms in a pluralistic society. For instance, how do youth grapple with the fact that they live in a society where people have different religious and secular beliefs and practices? Understanding how youth think about religious practices is key for promoting peaceful coexistence in pluralistic societies. As they grow up and encounter new religious practices and norms, for instance about how to eat, dress, or pray, youth need to make sense of why other people adhere to follow religious rules and practices that do not apply to them. By exploring these questions, we hope to be able to gain a deeper scientific knowledge of how adolescents reason about the religious practices and norms that they encounter in everyday life.