The temporal relationship between religious motivations and purpose: A cross-lagged panel model approach

Adolescents experience myriad benefits to their well-being from religiously engaging. In particular, religious engagement has been linked with a greater sense of purpose. However, adolescents’ motivations for religiously engaging likely impact the degree to which they feel a sense of purpose over time. As such, the present study examines the temporal relationship between religious motivations and a sense of purpose for religious adolescents. Using data from a 4-year longitudinal sample of 1,357 adolescents, we assessed the temporal relationship between a sense of purpose and three religious motivations (identified, introjected, and externalized). We analyzed our data using three cross-lagged panel models, with one of the three religious motivations in each model alongside a sense of purpose and demographic information. We found a bidirectional relationship between purpose and identified motivations, with each predicting the other over time. We found a unidirectional relationship from externalized motivations to purpose with greater externalized motivations predicting less purpose over time. Finally, we observed no relationship between introjected motivations and purpose. We further found that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other nonheterosexual and/or cisgender identities individuals, men, and religiously unaffiliated adolescents were more likely to engage in religion due to externalized motivations than identified or introjected motivations. The present study provides foundational evidence for the temporal and interconnected relationship between various forms of religious motivation and a sense of purpose. Our findings add nuance to existing literature regarding the link between purpose and religiousness, as well as provide mental health practitioners with specific methods for helping their religious clients benefit from their religious engagement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)