The buffered, technological self: Finding associations between Internet use and religiosity

Abstract

Explanations for the rise of the religiously unaffiliated have regained attention from sociologists in light of recent declines in religiosity. While the secularization thesis has seen revisions across disciplines, few studies link lower levels of religiosity with greater Internet use. This article draws from Charles Taylor’s widely regarded account of secularity and his concept of ‘the buffered self’ to argue that individuals who use the Internet more frequently are less religious. Using data from the Baylor Religion Survey (2017), I find that with higher levels of Internet use, individuals are less likely to pray, read sacred texts, attend religious services, consider religion personally important, or affiliate with a religious tradition. Greater Internet use is further associated with being an atheist, while other media activity such as watching television is not similarly linked. These findings ground Taylor’s theoretical work by specifying empirically measurable, contextual conditions that explain recent declines in religiosity.

Digital Religion among U.S. and Canadian Millennial Adults

“…In contrast to generational secular transition though, Armfield and Holbert (2003), Downey (2014) and McClure (2017McClure ( , 2020 provide an alternative explanation for the decline of religion among U.S. Millennials, an explanation tied to a much more recent societal development. These researchers contend that it is more specifically the arrival of the internet and the digital age among general populations and especially among young people in the 1990s that triggered the beginning of important religious declines in the United States that they see in a variety of survey data.…”

“…These digital realities are molded by and are in turn shaping almost everyone in society, but especially today's emerging young adults. Armfield and Holbert (2003), Downey (2014) and McClure (2016McClure ( , 2017McClure ( , 2020 see the following associations in the U.S. as causal: the macro-level association between the rise in internet use since the 1990s and the decline in population levels of religious affiliation over the same period, as well as the micro-level association between greater levels of internet use and lower levels of religiosity among individuals. According to these researchers' theory, Internet use leads to religious decline by fostering individualism and disaffiliation from larger social groups, and by acting as a buffer against normative social pressures surrounding religion.…”

“…Religious declines began much earlier in most other Western nations outside the U.S., including in Canada and many European nations as well as in Australia and New Zealand (Martin 2005;Wilkins-Laflamme 2014;Voas 2009), well before the arrival of the internet. This is a fact that Armfield and Holbert (2003), Downey (2014) and McClure (2017McClure ( , 2020 seem to ignore in their U.S. focused studies. Consequently, we would need an explanation of why the U.S. is unique in this causal relationship of internet use triggering religious decline, which Armfield and Holbert (2003), Downey (2014) and McClure (2017McClure ( , 2020 do not provide.…”

Spirituality and Technology: A Threefold Philosophical Reflection

“…58, no. 1 (March 2023)] www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/zygon (Wyche, Hayes, and Harvel 2006;Hedt 2013); discussions about whether technology fosters secularism or instead gives rise to renewed forms of religiosity-perhaps even a techno-religion (Caiazza 2005;Jackelén 2005;Raman 2005;Campbell 2013;McClure 2020); and the impact of digital revolution on religious practices and worldviews, catalyzing the emergence of a new academic field called digital religion studies (see Campbell and Evolvi 2020).…”

“…Works exploring the intersections between technology and spirituality have covered many aspects, such as the ways in which technological development unveils human nature, including its spiritual dimension (Hefner 2002, 2003); the use of technology to enhance spiritual practices (Wyche, Hayes, and Harvel 2006; Hedt 2013); discussions about whether technology fosters secularism or instead gives rise to renewed forms of religiosity—perhaps even a techno‐religion (Caiazza 2005; Jackelén 2005; Raman 2005; Campbell 2013; McClure 2020); and the impact of digital revolution on religious practices and worldviews, catalyzing the emergence of a new academic field called digital religion studies (see Campbell and Evolvi 2020).…”