RESEARCH_FILE
Vern L. Bengtson
University of Southern California
Known for:Longitudinal research on intergenerational transmission of religion, showing parental warmth — not practice frequency — is the strongest predictor of whether faith passes to the next generation
Key findings
- 2009
A longitudinal study following more than 350 families across multiple decades found that the quality of the parent-child relationship — especially perceived paternal warmth — was the strongest predictor of religious transmission; high parental religiosity combined with low warmth predicted adult children who rejected the parental faith. A Longitudinal Study of the Intergenerational Transmission of Religion ↗