ABSTRACT
The previous chapter showed how most young people in the Youth On Religion (YOR) study, and living in modern multi-faith communities, developed religious identities as they moved into adolescence and early adulthood, but how they demonstrated several distinct patterns. Specifically there were Strict Adherents who were devout and practised their religion in its traditional form, Flexible Adherents who were similarly devout but less rigid in how they expressed their religiosity, Pragmatists who had some religious beliefs and disbeliefs but were less committed to any particular faith position, and Bystanders who had been largely bypassed by religion. This chapter looks further at the meaning of these religious identities, and how far heritage, modernity, setting and personal agency are influential.
