Self-esteem, or mattering, is important as it has been found to
be positively related to things like perceived social support
and school performance for adolescents (Elliott, Kao & Grant
2004). We wonder if an adolescent’s self-esteem is specifically
affected by his religiosity. Plante and Boccaccini (1997) used
the SCSORF Questionnaire and found that stronger faith promoted
lighter interpersonal sensitivity, greater belief in personal
control and higher self-esteem. Likewise, Ellison (1991) asserts
that those with strong religiosity report higher self-esteem;
yet Bahr and Martin (1983) report that there was little
relationship between religiosity and self-esteem. In our study
we test to see if self-esteem is one area in which religion
manifests itself positively in the lives of adolescents. We
hypothesize that religion will be positively correlated with
self-esteem.