The strengthening of “transitional” categories in the self categorization of religious young people Cover Image

„Átmeneti” kategóriák erősödése az ifjúság vallásos önjellemzésekor
The strengthening of “transitional” categories in the self categorization of religious young people

Author(s): Zsuzsanna Bögre
Subject(s): Social Sciences
Published by: Debreceni Egyetem Politikatudományi és Szociológiai Intézet
Keywords: religious self-description; “religious in its own way”; “none religious;” “seeker” identity; the ethics of authenticity

Summary/Abstract: My study is about changes of self-qualification of the religiosity of the youth. The situation ofthe youth changed in the 21st century and this drew with itself changes in the ways they see theworld. These changes influenced religiosity, too. I have analysed the meanings of the notionsused in creating categories of religious self-qualification. I have focused on the meaning ofthe expression of being “religious in my own way”. What do those using this category of selfqualificationexactly mean by that and what are other groups they compare themselves to then?I suspect the existence of a growing rate of transitional categories of self-qualification togetherwith a decline of more exact categories—even though the category of those “not religious” grew and became second biggest behind those of being “religious in my own way”. I hypothesizedthat the meanings of the notions used in religious self-qualification became blurred as thesecategories grew in quantity. To see more clearly, I used qualitative research and analysedthe meaning of these notions in more detail in the group of those who self-qualified as being“religious in my own way”. The results have shown that youth in transitional categories tendto see themselves as “seekers”. They explained that their aim is to find the meaning of life. Theysubordinate their quest and their self-qualification to this aim.

  • Issue Year: 6/2017
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 31-46
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: Hungarian