Self-Esteem and Religiosity: An Analysis of Catholic Adolescents from Five Cultures

Keywords

Catholic Adolescents, self-esteem, cross-cultural, Latin

Abstract

On the basis of a social contextual model this paper hypothesizes: first, a positive relationship between adolescent self-esteem and religiosity across twelve purposive, middle-class, Catholic, samples from cities in five cultures: New York and St. Paul; Merida, Yucatan; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Seville, Spain; and Bonn, West Germany; and second, on the basis of traditional sex-role theory, a stronger relationship between the two variables is hypothesized for females than for males. The findings yield consistent support for the first hypothesis, and mild support for the second in the Latin samples only. The cross-cultural support for the first is underscored and speculation concerning the apparent contradictory evidence for sex-role theories is offered. The emergence of a Latin/non-Latin dichotomy is discussed. Suggested expansions of the topic include motivational and church-sect issues.

Original Publication Citation

"Self Esteem and Religiosity: An Analysis of Catholic Adolescents from Five Cultures." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 18 (7):51-60 (with C.B. Smith and A.J. Weigert).

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

1979

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/8442

Publisher

Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

Language

English

College

Religious Education

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

Link to Full Text

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