| Summary: | While emerging adults (EAs) commonly re-evaluate familial worldviews and religious beliefs and choose to form their own, some seem content to adopt their parents’ beliefs. This thesis extends research on ongoing parental influence on religiosity beyond childhood and adolescence, into emerging adulthood. It examines whether parent-child relationships and levels of social and religious capital differ between EAs who remain in their religion of birth and those who
choose to disaffiliate. This study employs the Inventory of Parent and Peer
Attachment (IPPA; Armsden & Greenberg, 1989) and semi-structured interviews
with 30 EAs (15 affiliated and 15 disaffiliated) who grew up in the Methodist
Church in Singapore. Findings showed that affiliated EAs generally have better
parental relationships than disaffiliated EAs, though both groups are closer to
their mothers than their fathers. Affiliated participants’ parents were also more
likely to prioritise family faith activities outside the home, thus increasing their
children’s opportunities to gain social and religious capital. Furthermore, highly
religious parents were found to influence their EA children positively only if their
actions aligned with their religious beliefs. Additionally, parents were not cited
as primary motivators for disaffiliation – instead, conflicting personal values,
negative experiences with the religious community, and personal spiritual
experiences were more pertinent. In all, this thesis argues that parent-child
relationships and ongoing parental influence in religious families can impact EA
religious decision-making.
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