Christian Teens Motivated to Make Cultural Impact for Christ, Global Study Reveals

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Barna Group has released the third volume of The Open Generation, a first-of-its-kind international research study to understand the identity, values and views of teenagers around the world.

Check out volume one and volume two of the study.

The third volume, titled “How Teens Around the World Can Make an Impact,” explores how teens weigh global concerns and their motivation to address injustice (that is, unfair or undeserved treatment of others). The study also assesses how teens’ connection to Jesus and the Bible relates to their desire to make a positive impact in the world.

The Open Generation includes responses from nearly 25,000 teens ages 13-17 across 26 countries. The survey was sent to a cross section of teens, nationally representative of each country, regardless of their faith background or leaning. The study was developed and conducted by Barna Group in 2021, in partnership with Alpha, Biblica and World Vision, with additional support from Christian Vision, Bible Study Fellowship, Christ In Youth and the Association of Christian Schools International.

“It is encouraging that the majority of global teens is motivated to address injustice in the world and believes that their generation can make a positive impact,” said David Kinnaman, CEO of Barna Group. “But while teens have strong motivations, we’ve seen that many lack confidence and commitment at this stage in their lives.

“In this final volume of our study, we also track how teens’ engagement with Jesus, the Bible and their communities correlates with their empowerment to make a difference. Our aim is that this study will allow church leaders, along with parents, educators, mentors and youth workers, to identify ways they can help teens turn their desire to make a difference into confidence and action to do good in the world.”

Key Research Findings in Volume 3

• The majority of teens believes their generation can make a positive impact (87%) and is motivated to do something about unfair or undeserved treatment of people in society (78%).
• While the majority of teens believes that it’s important to address injustice, there is a drop-off in their confidence and commitment to do so. Roughly two in five strongly agree that they can make a positive impact on others’ lives (41%) and say they will engage in activities that promote justice (41%).
• Just one in four teens (26%) trusts today’s leaders. Also, teens are torn about their own ability to lead. Only two in five teens (40%) believe that they can be a leader in the world today.
• For teens around the world, extreme poverty tops their list of greatest concerns (38%), followed by climate change (35%), sexual abuse (33%), unemployment (33%), political corruption (31%) and pollution (31%).
• For teens, having a holistic, engaged, devout faith correlates with a pull toward doing good in the world. Far more than their Christian peers as a whole, justice-motivated Christian teens want others to see Jesus reflected through their words and actions (74% vs. 43%) and say the Bible motivates them to make a positive impact on others’ lives (73% vs 42%).
• The more proximity and connection a teen has to their community, the more empowered they feel to address injustice. Justice-motivated teens find importance (60%), satisfaction (53%) and longevity (59%) in their communities.

Learn more about this study by visiting barna.com/the-open-generation. {eoa}

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Barna Group is a visionary research and resource company based in Dallas, Texas. Started in 1984, the firm is widely considered to be a leading research organization focused on the intersection of faith and culture. Conducting more than 2 million interviews over the course of thousands of studies, Barna has become a go-to source for insights about faith and culture, leadership and vocation and generations. Barna has worked with thousands of businesses, nonprofit organizations and churches across the U.S. and around the world.