Fifty-seven per cent of young people (ages 12-25) see themselves as being spiritual, reported the survey by Search Institute’s Center for Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence that was sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation.
The research surveyed more than 7,000 young people from a wide range of cultural and religious backgrounds, spanning 17 countries and six continents. It took two years to complete the study that offers one of the first snapshots of spiritual development across multiple countries and traditions.
“We have spent two years listening to youth ages 12 to 25 from many countries and traditions talk about spiritual development and its role in their lives,” reflected Eugene C Roehlkepartain, co-director of the Center for Spiritual Development, in a statement. “Many young people are keenly interested in these issues, but relatively few have opportunities to talk with others about the things that really matter to them.”
The survey found that about one in three youths consider themselves “very” or “pretty” spiritual, but this varies vastly across countries. The high was in the United States where 52 per cent of the youth self-described themselves as “very” or “pretty” spiritual, and in Thailand where 50 per cent gave the same response.
In contrast, Australia had a low of only 23 per cent saying they were highly spiritual. Almost half of the youth surveyed in Australia (47 per cent) indicated that they are not spiritual, compared to only 12 per cent in Thailand and about 20 per cent in Canada, India, Ukraine and the United States.
Religion and being spiritual are related but different, according to the world’s youth. Respondents are still most likely to say they are both spiritual and religious (34 per cent). Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) say they are spiritual, but not religious.
One in five of the youths indicated they did not know whether they were spiritual or not.
The response of American youth was slightly different. They were more likely to say they are both spiritual and religious (43 per cent) than the world’s youth in general (34 per cent). A comparable number to international youths said they are just spiritual (27 per cent).
Being spiritual for this young generation is most often associated with believing in God (36 per cent), followed by believing that there is a purpose to life (32 per cent), and then being true to one’s inner self (26 per cent).
But the most popular definition for being spiritual differed across countries and culture.
Indian youths were more likely to say being true to one’s inner self (38 per cent) is being spiritual more so than believing in God (33 per cent), whereas in Canada, the youths said being spiritual is believing in God (52 per cent) and then believing there is a purpose to life (48 per cent).
