Three Youth Research Studies
from Springtide Research Institute
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The State of Religion & |
The latest research report (October 2020) explores the state of religion and young people. The headline: The new research report shifts how we talk about young people’s religious lives: away from “affiliation” & “disaffiliation,” toward relationships, practices, beliefs. (For a free copy of the research report go to: https://www.springtideresearch.org/the-state-of-religion-young-people)
Overview
This latest research is a nationally representative study of 13-to-25-year-olds, collected from over 10,000 surveys and 150 interviews. It reveals how outdated the obsession around “affiliated” and “unaffiliated” is when it comes to understanding the inner and outer lives of young people today.
The State of Religion & Young People 2020 confirms that young people today are experiencing record loneliness, and that they don’t trust the institutions that once helped them navigate questions of identity, community, and meaning. This lack of trust is true even for young people who tell us they are connected to traditional institutions.
Springtide findings reveal that 71% of young people consider themselves “religious,” but over half of young people in our study report having little to no trust in religious institutions. Affiliation—even showing up to a particular religious service—doesn’t necessarily equal believing, belonging, or trusting that institution.
Unaffiliated doesn’t mean what you would think either. Sixty percent of unaffiliated young people say that they are at least slightly spiritual, and over 1 in 5 tell us they attend religious services at least once a month. This is why terms like “affiliated” and “unaffiliated” don’t mean as much as they once did. They are insufficient for understanding the inner and outer lives of young people.
Affiliation Doesn’t Reveal Much; Relationships Do
What is more important than institutional affiliations? Relationships. As trust in institutions decline, trust in relationships (even relationships within institutions) remain important in the lives of young people for helping them navigate major life questions. Of young people ages 13–25 with no adult mentors, 24% say they never feel their life has meaning or purpose. But for those with even just one adult mentor, this number drops to 6%.
The need for relationships and expertise hasn’t changed. But in light of larger social factors and current events, the best ways to connect with young people and communicate expertise is shifting. Young people have a deep need for familiar connection amid a society increasingly glued together by transactional exchanges. To forge bonds of trust with young people amid changing realities, a new approach is needed. We call this new approach Relational Authority. It is a data-driven framework for having a lasting, positive influence in the lives of young people today. The five dimensions of Relational Authority are listening, transparency, integrity, care, and expertise.
Key Findings in Charts
Overview
This latest research is a nationally representative study of 13-to-25-year-olds, collected from over 10,000 surveys and 150 interviews. It reveals how outdated the obsession around “affiliated” and “unaffiliated” is when it comes to understanding the inner and outer lives of young people today.
The State of Religion & Young People 2020 confirms that young people today are experiencing record loneliness, and that they don’t trust the institutions that once helped them navigate questions of identity, community, and meaning. This lack of trust is true even for young people who tell us they are connected to traditional institutions.
Springtide findings reveal that 71% of young people consider themselves “religious,” but over half of young people in our study report having little to no trust in religious institutions. Affiliation—even showing up to a particular religious service—doesn’t necessarily equal believing, belonging, or trusting that institution.
Unaffiliated doesn’t mean what you would think either. Sixty percent of unaffiliated young people say that they are at least slightly spiritual, and over 1 in 5 tell us they attend religious services at least once a month. This is why terms like “affiliated” and “unaffiliated” don’t mean as much as they once did. They are insufficient for understanding the inner and outer lives of young people.
Affiliation Doesn’t Reveal Much; Relationships Do
What is more important than institutional affiliations? Relationships. As trust in institutions decline, trust in relationships (even relationships within institutions) remain important in the lives of young people for helping them navigate major life questions. Of young people ages 13–25 with no adult mentors, 24% say they never feel their life has meaning or purpose. But for those with even just one adult mentor, this number drops to 6%.
The need for relationships and expertise hasn’t changed. But in light of larger social factors and current events, the best ways to connect with young people and communicate expertise is shifting. Young people have a deep need for familiar connection amid a society increasingly glued together by transactional exchanges. To forge bonds of trust with young people amid changing realities, a new approach is needed. We call this new approach Relational Authority. It is a data-driven framework for having a lasting, positive influence in the lives of young people today. The five dimensions of Relational Authority are listening, transparency, integrity, care, and expertise.
Key Findings in Charts
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8 Values that Drive America's |
Meaning Making: 8 Values That Drive America’s Newest Generations is new research from Springtide Research Institute that investigates the values that young people, ages 13 to 25, practice and uphold. It addresses key questions: What motivates them in their common quest to discover, create, and express significant meaning in their lives? What organizations and groups do they choose to engage with and be a part of? How do those organizations exhibit and express those values?
The research uncovers eight values that are important for young people, ages 13 to 25: accountable, inclusive, authentic, welcoming, impactful, relational, growthful, and meaningful.
The research documents continuing social trends that have been ongoing for years. Our society has moved away from lives neatly organized by traditional institutions. Instead, people have been turning toward new types of organizations and toward personal relationships that permit and encourage living out their entire value system in a variety of ways.
In other words, productive, meaningful work is no longer just the domain of the 9-to-5 job. Religious belief and spiritual aspirations, explorations, and expressions no longer belong only to Sunday mornings or Friday evenings. Being a good citizen is not confined to volunteer work done after hours.
Young people are thinking about their lives in holistic ways, where traditional institutional boundaries have been blurred or erased entirely. These social trends have significant implications for leaders who work with young people.
Each of these eight values consistently emerged for young people both in terms of their personal practices and what they hope to see embodied and embraced in organizations, causes, or clubs they join. The converse is true as well. Absent these values, organizations, groups, and relationships run the real risk of alienating young people or not attracting them in the first place. But these values aren’t just for or about young people. Rather, taking a cue from their principles, the work of creating a culture that is accountable, inclusive, authentic, welcoming, impactful, relational, growthful, and meaningful will benefit and improve your organization and relationships in countless ways.
Young people are seeking meaning, and they are looking in new places and looking to new people to find and create it. Through an exploration of these eight values they hold in high regard, we hope to equip you to meet and aid young people in that quest, and to add meaning to your organization, relationships, and life in the process.
To purchase the book go to Springtide Research Institute: https://www.springtideresearch.org/meaning-making/
The research uncovers eight values that are important for young people, ages 13 to 25: accountable, inclusive, authentic, welcoming, impactful, relational, growthful, and meaningful.
- Accountability is about clear expectations, shared purpose, and forums for feedback.
- To be inclusive is to be welcoming, supportive, and respectful.
- Authenticity is characterized by the ability to be totally oneself, without worry about performing a certain way.
- The value of welcoming is both a gesture of hospitality and a felt experience of belonging.
- Being impactful is about actively engaging key social issues and thoughtfully minimizing harm.
- Practicing being relational includes thoughtful investments in both bridging and bonding connections.
- Valuing growth means encouraging a disposition of curiosity and learning, as well a capacity for flexibility and adaptability.
- Meaning making is about grasping for more, moving beyond what’s expected, pursuing the big questions and living them out.
The research documents continuing social trends that have been ongoing for years. Our society has moved away from lives neatly organized by traditional institutions. Instead, people have been turning toward new types of organizations and toward personal relationships that permit and encourage living out their entire value system in a variety of ways.
In other words, productive, meaningful work is no longer just the domain of the 9-to-5 job. Religious belief and spiritual aspirations, explorations, and expressions no longer belong only to Sunday mornings or Friday evenings. Being a good citizen is not confined to volunteer work done after hours.
Young people are thinking about their lives in holistic ways, where traditional institutional boundaries have been blurred or erased entirely. These social trends have significant implications for leaders who work with young people.
Each of these eight values consistently emerged for young people both in terms of their personal practices and what they hope to see embodied and embraced in organizations, causes, or clubs they join. The converse is true as well. Absent these values, organizations, groups, and relationships run the real risk of alienating young people or not attracting them in the first place. But these values aren’t just for or about young people. Rather, taking a cue from their principles, the work of creating a culture that is accountable, inclusive, authentic, welcoming, impactful, relational, growthful, and meaningful will benefit and improve your organization and relationships in countless ways.
Young people are seeking meaning, and they are looking in new places and looking to new people to find and create it. Through an exploration of these eight values they hold in high regard, we hope to equip you to meet and aid young people in that quest, and to add meaning to your organization, relationships, and life in the process.
To purchase the book go to Springtide Research Institute: https://www.springtideresearch.org/meaning-making/
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Belonging |
Springtide Research Institute (https://www.springtideresearch.org) is a new research initiative with mission "to listen and attend to the lives of young people (ages 13-25). Springtide Research Institute is committed to understanding the distinct ways new generations experience and express community, identity, and meaning. Springtide exists at the intersection of religious and human experience in the lives of young people."
Over the next several weeks I am going to provide overviews of their research studies. Their first study in March 2020 is called Belonging which explores where young people feel a sense of belonging - an especially important study given the pandemic and social distancing, and the rise of loneliness and isolation so many young people are experiencing.
The research team expressed this central insight: Every time they asked specifically where young people experienced a sense of belonging, the young people pushed back. They told the researchers who created a sense of belonging for them. It turned out that the place or setting didn't matter nearly as much as the relationships these young people had with family, friends, and caring adults.
Here are five key takeaways from the study:
Over the next several weeks I am going to provide overviews of their research studies. Their first study in March 2020 is called Belonging which explores where young people feel a sense of belonging - an especially important study given the pandemic and social distancing, and the rise of loneliness and isolation so many young people are experiencing.
The research team expressed this central insight: Every time they asked specifically where young people experienced a sense of belonging, the young people pushed back. They told the researchers who created a sense of belonging for them. It turned out that the place or setting didn't matter nearly as much as the relationships these young people had with family, friends, and caring adults.
Here are five key takeaways from the study:
