Effects of interreligious marriages on children's religious identity

• Main Authors: Siti Maizurah Binte Mohd Kamal, Tan, Helene Iyng Jae, Nur Syahindah Binte Syahrom
• Other Authors: Lim Khek Gee, Francis
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
• Subjects: Social Sciences; Religion; Religious heterogamy; Interreligious marriage; Family; Symbolic interactionism; Structural functionalism
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/175730
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

With Singapore’s increasingly religiously diverse population, there has also been an increase in interreligious marriages (IRMs). IRMs are used to study how interreligious environments affect children’s religious identities. The study sought to answer the question – What are the effects of IRMs on children's religious identity? Through 16 interviews, symbolic interactionism and structural functionalism were utilised to analyse the findings. Multiple effects of IRMs on children’s religious identity were found – religious upbringing shapes children’s religious identity; participants exposed to majority negative life experiences related to religion self-identify as non-religious; participants found to have engaged in little to no religious activity in their daily lives possessed distinctive religious identities centred around their personal experiences. While the findings highlight impacts of IRMs on children’s religious identities from the children's point of view, future research should incorporate parents’ perspectives to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of IRMs on children’s religious identities.