Sectarianism is perceived as a serious issue in Scotland despite a lack of concrete evidence, according to the Advisory Group on Tackling Sectarianism. This paper addresses one of the gaps in knowledge, the attitudes of Catholic school pupils. Our research was designed to profile sectarian attitudes among a sample of Catholic school pupils in…

Drawing on data from a survey conducted among 9,810 young people in England, Scotland, and Wales, this study examines parental and peer influence on church attendance among 2146 13- to 15-year-old students who identified themselves as Catholics. The data suggested that young Catholics who practise their Catholic identity by attending church do so…

This study set out to explore levels of religious affect (measured by the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity) and personal affect (measured by the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire) among samples of Catholic students in the Republic of Ireland attending fifth- and sixth-year classes (N = 3015) and Catholic students in Northern Ireland…

Drawing on data from the 2011 Australian National Church Life Survey (NCLS), this study was designed to assess peer and parental influence on frequency of church attendance, attitude toward church, and attitude toward Christianity among a sample of 6256 young churchgoers between the ages of eight and 14 years, attending a range of denominations,…

Drawing on data from the 2011 Australian National Church Life Survey, this study was designed to assess the connection between religious affect (as a measure of Christian commitment) and global happiness (as a measure of personal well being) among a sample of 6,194 young churchgoers in Australia between the ages of 8 and 14 years, attending a…

This study draws together two research traditions: John Greer's pioneering research among pupils in Protestant and Catholic schools in Northern Ireland and Leslie J. Francis's research concerning teenage religion and values in England and Wales. A sample of 1,585 13- to 15-year-old male pupils attending Catholic schools (n = 712) and Protestant…

This paper draws on John Fisher's formative definition of spiritual health as comprising good relationships within four domains (the personal, the communal, the environmental and the transcendental) and uses the operationalization of these constructs proposed by Francis and Robbins (2005). Comparisons are made between the responses of five groups…

Background: Northern Ireland is a province that remains deeply divided between Protestants and Catholics and maintains a segregated system of schools. Purpose: The research builds on a series of studies conducted in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s to monitor the attitude toward Christianity of males and females educated in Protestant and Catholic…

Explores the sense in which U.S. Catholic schools can be considered a faith community by administering questionnaires to 1,204 Catholic school students. Compares attitudes and mass attendance of practicing and nonpracticing Catholics, non-Catholics, and their parents. Correlates student mass attendance with positive attitudes toward Catholic…

This study explores the psychological type profile of Roman Catholic priests. A sample of 79 priests completed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Form G). The study shows that Roman Catholic priests tend to prefer introversion over extraversion, feeling over thinking and judging over perceiving. Near equal preferences are shown for sensing and…

The present study has built on three earlier studies reported by Francis and Burton (1994), Francis and Evans (1996), and Francis (2005) to test the hypothesis that there is a positive correlation between frequency of prayer and perceived purpose in life among 13-to 15-year-old young people who are within a community with high levels of church…

Presents survey findings concerning the moral and religious attitudes of Northern Ireland's adolescents. Seeks to develop reliability and validity criteria for a scale of traditional Christian values. Concludes that Catholic school students are more likely to hold traditional values than are Protestant school students. (DK)