An Empirical Study on Impacts of Adolescents' Religious and Cultural Activities in Shaping Self-Identity and Community Sense in Korea

This research empirically analysed relationship between adolescents' participation in religious and cultural activities and their shaping self-identity and community sense, using data available from the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey in 2016, conducted by the National Youth Policy Institute. The samples are 1,981 number of middle school students in the first year, 1,787 number of high school student in the first year, and 1,689 number of University students in the freshman year. Concerning research methods, four types of participation are classified based on both adolescents' stage of school and their participating in either religious or cultural activities; and the ANOVA(analysis of variance) was conducted to find out whether those participation types are affecting adolescents' shaping self-identity and community sense. Findings of this research show that the types of participation in religious and cultural activities in the first grade of middle school and high school is significantly affecting adolescents' shaping self-identity; whereas not in the case with the first grade of university. Gender difference does not change the result. A significant affect in shaping community sense was also found in all the stage of school according to religious and cultural participation types. In sum, adolescents who participated in both religious and cultural activities are found to have strong self-identity and community sense. This research suggests that religious and cultural activities can positively work for those adolescents' shaping self-identity and community sense, who get through problems in school lives and negative emotions.이 논문은 2018년도 한림대학교 교비연구(HRF-201807-005)에 의하여 연구되었음