A "remarkable" transformation is underway in American religious life, Cornell-led research finds: Large numbers are leaving organized religion - not in favor of secular rationality, but to pursue spirituality in ways that better align with their individual values.
This reimagining of religion outside traditional institutions fits within broader social changes that have prioritized individual fulfilment and "finding" oneself, including shifting views about gender and sexuality and the rise of the internet, the researchers said. Spanning political views, it also reflects a revolt against religious organizations growing more bureaucratic, rigid and political over time - turning into the "iron cages" predicted by sociologist Max Weber - and increasingly clashing with individuals' search for meaning.
"People aren't leaving religious institutions passively or only because of partisan politics, but because of more deeply held values - about the sacredness of the individual, their concern for others and feeling that their participation in an institution doesn't align with being the type of person they want to be," said Landon Schnabel, associate professor of sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences. "They're more intentionally choosing to follow what they really believe in."
Schnabel is the first author of "Breaking Free of the Iron Cage: The Individualization of American Religion," published April 14 in Socius. Co-authors are Ilana Horwitz, assistant professor of Jewish studies at Tulane University; Peyman Hekmatpour, teaching assistant professor of sociology at Oklahoma State University, Tulsa; and Cyrus Schleifer, associate professor of sociology at the University of Oklahoma.
The proportion of religious "nones" in the U.S. - those claiming no religious affiliation - has surged in just a few decades, from 1 in 20 to more than 1 in 4. The new research advances understanding of the reasons behind that change, leveraging a nationally representative study that tracked teens as they came of age early in the 21st century, amid shifting social values and technological and economic upheaval, from the emergence of the internet and social media to the 2008 financial crisis.
The scholars analyzed data from more than 1,300 participants in the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) who completed four rounds of surveys between 2003 and 2013, starting when they were between 13 and 17 years old. Over that decade, participants reported how frequently they attended religious services or prayed alone; if they were affiliated with a religion and believed in God; if they supported converting others to a religion; and if they practiced meditation.
The results showed institutional aspects of religion declined significantly faster than individual faith and spirituality. Estimated trajectories showed a sharp decline in religious attendance while prayer frequency dipped but plateaued, producing a widening gap between institutional engagement and individual practice. Religious affiliation dropped precipitously while belief in God held stable. Support for proselytism declined nearly 10%, while meditation practice grew about as much - the only variable to show growth.
The analysis showed steeper declines in religious attendance and affiliation among more liberal study participants - including those who supported same-sex marriage and abortion rights - but declines among moderates and conservatives as well, "suggesting broad change across this cohort," the authors wrote, across gender, race, class and sexual orientation.
Complementing the survey data, the NSYR also conducted in-depth interviews with some study participants. Reviewing 183 interviews with 54 respondents whose connection to organized religion declined over time, the researchers found their evolving views and experiences corroborated broader patterns seen in the survey data.
Chris, for example, considered God an omnipresent force in his life at age 16, but after leaving rural Pennsylvania for college became troubled by Catholic teachings on homosexuality. He ultimately distanced himself from a church he perceived as too political and exclusionary - while continuing to believe in something greater, "whether you want to call it God or not," he said.
Repeatedly, the researchers said, interviewees described experiencing dissonance between their values and those of institutions that seemed most concerned with doctrine and finances. That prompted not an abandonment of faith but dynamic searches for alternate ways of finding spirituality, meaning and community, driven by authenticity and moral conviction.
"The move away from organized religion doesn't look like kind of the pure material secularism that some people thought," Schnabel said. "It doesn't reflect disenchantment with the world, but re-enchantment through something other than church."
The ongoing transition from institutional religion to individualized spirituality, the authors said, is "both utterly contemporary and strikingly familiar: a shift from highly bureaucratized 'high church' structures toward more fluid and personalized faith." Such shifts, they said, have swung like a pendulum across centuries.
"Americans are increasingly doing religion their own way, almost like DIY," Schnabel said. "Spiritual innovation occurs when traditional ways of being religious don't seem tenable anymore. People come up with new ways of exploring their faith, new types of spirituality, new beliefs and practices."
