Religious Involvement and the Social Competence and Adjustment of Indonesian Muslim Adolescents

• Published in: Developmental psychology Vol. 44; no. 2; pp. 597 - 611
• Main Authors: French, Doran C, Eisenberg, Nancy, Vaughan, Julie, Purwono, Urip, Suryanti, Telie A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Psychological Association 01.03.2008
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Achievement; Adjustment (to Environment); Adolescent; Adolescents; Antisocial Behavior; Child Behavior Disorders - ethnology; Child Behavior Disorders - psychology; Culture; Female; Foreign Countries; Grade 8; Grade 9; Humans; Individuality; Indonesia; Internal-External Control; Interpersonal Competence; Islam - psychology; Juvenile Delinquency - ethnology; Juvenile Delinquency - psychology; Male; Measures (Individuals); Models, Statistical; Muslims; Peer Group; Peer Groups; Personality Assessment; Prosocial Behavior; Religion; Religion and Psychology; Religious Factors; Self Concept; Self Esteem; Social Adjustment; Social Behavior; Sociometric Techniques; Spirituality; Structural Equation Models; Temperament; Indonesia
• ISSN: 0012-1649; 1939-0599
• DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.44.2.597

This study assessed the relation between religious involvement and multiple indices of competence in 183 eighth- and ninth-grade Indonesian Muslim adolescents (M = 13.3 years). The authors assessed spirituality and religiosity using both parent and adolescent reports, and social competence and adjustment using multiple measures and data sources. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that parent and adolescent reports of religiosity and spirituality yielded a single religious involvement latent variable that was related to peer group status, academic achievement, emotional regulation, prosocial behavior, antisocial/problem behavior, internalizing behavior, and self-esteem. The consistency of relations between religious involvement and competence may be in part attributable to the collectivist context of religion in West Java, Indonesia, within which people exhibit strong beliefs in Islam and religion permeates daily life.