From Socialization to Self-Socialization? Exploring the Role of Digital Media in the Religious Lives of Young Adults in Ghana, Turkey, and Peru
: Marcus Moberg, Sofia Sjö, Ben-Willie Kwaku Golo, Habibe Erdiş Gökçe, Rafael Fernández Hart, Sidney Castillo Cardenas, Francis Benyah, Mauricio Javier Villacrez Jó
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
: London
: 2019
: Religion
: 49
: 2
: 240
: 261
: 22
: 0048-721X
: 1096-1151
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0048721X.2019.1584353
: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0048721X.2019.1584353
: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/41436581
Previous research has pointed to the central role of media for the current young adult generation when it comes to finding information about religion, exploring beliefs, and developing a religious identity. This article explores how young adult university students in three different contexts – Ghana, Turkey, and Peru – report using digital media for religious purposes. The article builds on previous research on the role of media in religious socialization and explores the usefulness of the notion of self-socialization in a transnational study. The studied contexts are all shown to differ when it comes to levels of self-reported religiosity and use of media for religious purposes. The article illustrates the independent use of digital media in all contexts and self-socialization taking place on a general level, but also highlights the continuous importance of traditional socialization agents, thus questioning simplistic understandings of the role of media in religious socialization.