Much research has been done on the concept of why people remain religious, formulating Rational Choice Theory. This involves the idea of compensators and religious expectations. In addition, other research and subsequent theories go into the duality of religious expectations and relational compensators—these relational compensators include love, support, forgiveness, and kindness from others. However, research has rarely explicitly explored what reportedly encourages individuals to stay in religious institutions despite religious demands. Through qualitative interviews with 198 highly religious families, this study analyzed the various expectations and demands individuals and families encounter, as well as the relational blessings they report receiving as a result of their religiosity. Findings indicate a complex connection between religious expectations and relational compensators, where some expectations are relational and may provide blessings for individuals who follow them. These findings indicate that some highly religious individuals do not view fulfilling certain religious expectations as a sacrifice. More research should be done to better understand why religious individuals of varying levels of religiosity remain religious as well.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BGMYU2/oai:scholarsarchive.byu.edu:etd-9486 |
| Date | 12 June 2020 |
| Creators | Kimball, Elisabeth R. |
| Publisher | BYU ScholarsArchive |
| Source Sets | Brigham Young University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/ |
Page generated in 0.0025 seconds