Religious faith plays a key role in the movie-watching habits of teenagers, according to new research for the National Study of Youth and Religion.
The percentage of teens surveyed who watch mostly R-rated movies climbs steadily from just 17 percent among extremely religious teens to almost 50 percent for teens who say religion is not important in their lives.
Only a quarter of teens who said religion is “very important” watch all or mostly R-rated movies, according to the research.
In a comparison of movie selections across denominations, Mormon teens watched R-rated movies the least often — only 3 percent said they watched them most of the time.
Among conservative Protestant teens, only 22 percent said they watched all or mostly R-rated movies, while 32 percent of mainline Protestant teens said they watched primarily R-rated movies.
More than a quarter — 26 percent — of the Jewish teens surveyed said they watch mainly R-rated films, and 31 percent of Catholic teens said they watch mostly R-rated movies.
Christian Smith, principal investigator of the study, said in the report that the data has some limitations.
“Clearly, different kinds of religious teens are more or less likely to consume R-rated movies,” Smith said. “This could mean that certain religious traditions, congregations or parents are more successful in having their teens avoid R-rated movies generally.
“It could also mean that certain ones are better at teaching their teens to be more discerning consumers, to watch more worthwhile R-rated movies and avoid the more problematic ones,” Smith explained.
The study surveyed more than 3,350 teens from 13 to 17 years old, as well as one of their parents, by random telephone survey.
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