Abstract
This article studies secularization at the individual level in a most similar approach study of 13Western European countries. Secularization is measured in two ways: as a decrease in Christian beliefs and as a decrease in the correlation between Christian beliefs and morality. In particular, the article scrutinizes the impact of two factors that are traditionally considered important for secularization: cohort and country. Based on data from the EuropeanValues Study, the article shows that the impact of cohort is primarily related to the individual's economic deprivation during his/her formative years. A sub-country regional analysis compares the impact of the country and denomination as social institutions and finds within country differences important in secularization and, in many cases, the impact of denomination as a social institution is identical in regions in different countries.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Nordic Journal of Religion and Society |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Pages (from-to) | 131-150 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| ISSN | 0809-7291 |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Keywords
- Faculty of Social Sciences