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Author: Baker, David P.
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Pendola, Andrew
Baker, David P.
Fortified, Not Secularized: Longitudinal Influence of Higher Education on Religious Beliefs and Behaviors
Presented: San Antonio TX, American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, April-May 2017
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: American Educational Research Association
Keyword(s): Educational Attainment; Religion; Transition, Adulthood

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

It has long been assumed that higher levels of education would lead to more liberal beliefs and an overall decline in religiosity for young adults, yet these predictions have largely gone unfulfilled. Using longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this study examines the effect of higher levels of education on specific religious attitudes during the critical transitions of early adulthood. Results indicate that education reduces concrete and exclusivist religious beliefs, does not influence prayer, and increases broad spiritual beliefs. More importantly, results of proportional hazard models demonstrate that education significantly fortifies extant religious beliefs, be they of liberal or fundamental. In sum, educational institutions may tend to be more liberal, but they are not necessarily secularizing.
Bibliography Citation
Pendola, Andrew and David P. Baker. "Fortified, Not Secularized: Longitudinal Influence of Higher Education on Religious Beliefs and Behaviors." Presented: San Antonio TX, American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, April-May 2017.