College-Aged Religious “Nones” and their Political Views: A Comparison in the Wake of the Disaffiliation Trend

Each year, college-age populations are increasingly reporting that they identify as non-religious and are attending religious services less frequently, resulting in a larger presence of a group known as religious “Nones.” In the past, social researchers have used religious affiliation and attendance to predict opinions on political ideologies. However, with this increasing prevalence of “Nones” among college-age populations, it is more difficult to use religious variables to predict political views. In this paper, I will analyze recent GSS data and an original survey to capture a contemporary picture of college-age respondents’ religiosity and political beliefs