Who Are They and What Do They Value? – The Five Global Worldviews of Young Adults

Abstract

AbstractIn this chapter, we present five distinct worldview profiles that describe ways of being religious, spiritual and secular. The findings emerge from our international study with young adults in twelve countries worldwide, and it is based on the Faith Q-Sort (FQS) and Q-methodology. FQS is a novel way to assess worldviews based on what is called prototypes from a factor analysis of how people respond to a set of statements. We implemented the FQS as part of our mixed-method approach, and results from the survey part allows us to further explore the five prototypes closer. How are the worldviews different from each other in terms of national distribution, demographic data, measure of religiosity, basic values, life satisfaction, where they get information, and aspects of trust? Since FQS is a new instrument in the study of religions, the investigation based on the mixed method approach helps us to evaluate its usefulness and quality as a method for assessment of ways of being (non)religious.