2014/06/04 by Lois Lee · 127 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Identification (biology) #Islam #Philosophy #Psychology #Religion and Society Interactions #Religion, Society, and Development #Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology #Religious studies #Secularism #Secularity #Secularization #Social psychology #Sociology #Theology
paper · open access · doi:10.1080/0048721x.2014.904035
published in Religion 44(3), 466-482 (Taylor & Francis)
openalex publication_date 2014/06/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
In research dealing with religious affiliation, generic nonreligious categories – ‘no religion’, ‘not religious’, ‘nonreligious’, ‘nones’ – are frequently used to measure secularity and secularisation processes. Analysis of these categories is, however, problematic because they have not received dedicated methodological attention. Using qualitative research conducted in the UK, this article investigates what nonreligious categories measure and, specifically, whether they indicate non-identification or disaffiliation as assumed or an alternative form of cultural affiliation. Findings suggest that generic nonreligious categories are sometimes used to express substantive positions and public identities, and that these are diverse. These findings flatten distinctions between religious and nonreligious categories as ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ respectively and indicate problems therefore in using nonreligious identification to measure secularity and secularisation. They suggest nonreligious identification is, however, a useful indicator of the advance of nonreligious cultures and the ‘nonreligionisation’ of societies.