Religiousness, Social Networks, Moral Schemas, and Marijuana Use: A Dynamic Dual-Process Model of Culture and Behavior

Drawing on insights from a dual-process model of culture, social networks, and behavior, this study develops a model that specifies the associations among religiousness and marijuana use during adolescence and young adulthood. In particular, the model highlights potential reciprocal associations among religiousness, marijuana use, drug-using peer networks, religious peer networks, and moral schemas. Analyses of longitudinal data from the National Survey of Youth and Religion (NSYR; n = 2,276) provide some support for the model. In particular, religious and drug-using peer networks play a key role in understanding how marijuana use and religiousness are mutually related during adolescence and young adulthood.