Religious identity exploration in the life stories of strictly Reformed-raised emerging adults in the Netherlands

Abstract

This article presents the findings from a qualitative study on the religious identity exploration processes and experiences of emerging adults who grew up in strictly Reformed contexts in the Netherlands. We discuss three forms of exploration that appeared in our data: asking questions, exploring alternatives and rebelling against things that are disallowed or undesirable in the strictly Reformed tradition. We also discuss patterns that emerged from our analysis of exploration related to participants’ current religious identity commitments and a strictly Reformed upbringing. Finally, we discuss our findings and propose directions for further research and implications for those who guide youth in religious identity development.