Theories: Cultural Internalization an Individual\'s

¶ … Theories:

Cultural internalization

An individual's religious affiliation is influenced by close relationship within their family of origin (Wilson & Sandomirsky, 2001)

Sunday school attendance did not seem to have an impact (Loveland, 2000)

The more content an individual was with his surrounding, the less likely he was to switch (Barro & McCleary, 2010).

spouses can have a stronger influence than parents on religious tendency of individuals

Life experiences and events can go far in altering religious belief and behavior (Albrecht & Cornwall, 1989).

Education effects belief transformation (Loveland, 2000).

Some individuals may change faith because they are attracted to a particular belief that offers them support and hope during a time of hardship and need for identity (Paloutzian, 1999).

Questions for Further Research

The studies mentioned in the literature review largely amorphosized their populations, forgetting to distinguish different religions and to consider that some religions and beliefs may be more difficult, due to their intense internalization to change than others. May some religious orientations / denominations find it easier to transfer faiths than others

2. Are there factors that cause commonalities of belief change across the various faiths?

3. Why do some people become apostates, whilst others transfer religious faith

Do the same factors that cause people to transfer religious faith apply to apostasy (i.e. changing belief from belief in religion to belief in atheism)

III. Procedure:

A. The data collection method that will be utilized for the research study is questionnaires.

1. Participants will be given choice to participate

2. Those who choose to participate were explained the risks and benefits of confidentiality and were asked to sign an informed consent.

3. Demographic questions will be incorporated into the questionnaire. Such information asked will include age, gender, marital status, religious affiliation, and whether they live in a one parent, two parents, or divorced family household.

4. The questionnaire asks questions regarding a change in religious affiliation. An instance of such a question is how many times the student has changed his/her religious affiliation.

B. Population

1. The participants for this study will be 18- to 30-year-old students at La Sierra University. These participants will be both male and female and from a variety of a cultural backgrounds.

2. The research group plans to distribute questionnaires to at least 100 students in classrooms on the La Sierra University campus.

C. Recruitment Process

1. The research group will recruit potential students by connecting with different faculty and with their approval disseminating the questionnaires in the class.

2. The students taking the questionnaire will be given a brief background on what class the questionnaire is for, the purpose of the research and questionnaire, and how the results will be used.

3. The research group will address the issue of informed consent with the students during their introduction in the classes.

D. Eligibility Criteria

Individuals over 30 are excluded from participating in the research because research indicated that older individuals are least likely to switch religions.

E. Potential Risks and Benefits

1. A potential risk could be that the questionnaire may create more self-awareness than the participants were expecting.

2. A possible benefit in taking the questionnaire could be that they gain more information on the reason people switch religions.

F. Data Analysis Methods

1. SPSS: logistic regression