Religiosity among Indigenous Peoples: A Study of Cordilleran Youth in the Philippines

Abstract

Religions are a set of beliefs, attitudes, and practices about transcendence. They are formed by complex social and cultural rituals and customs. Given that religion is also vital to the Indigenous Peoples, this study employed the Centrality of Religiosity Scale (CRS) to measure and understand the nuances of the religiosity of the Indigenous youth of Cordillera, also known as Igorots, in the Philippines. The Cordilleran youth’s religiosity is particularly interesting to the researchers because their autochthonous religion is marked by a cosmology that includes hundreds of deities and elaborate rituals accompanying personal and social events. Data collected from 151 university students showed that Cordilleran youth are highly religious, and those living in rural areas are more religious than the younger participants. The Cordilleran youth strongly prefer private practice and scored high in the ideology dimension of CRS. They tend to devote themselves to transcendence in their personal space through individualized activities and rituals. This study also found that the religiosity of the select Cordilleran youth was ambivalent, defined as the coexistence of different ideas or feelings in the mind or a single context. It shows the inter-religiosity of the Indigenous youth as expressed in the engagement of religious practices. This paper discussed these significant results and explored their implications for the Indigenous Peoples and the Cordilleran youth.

1. Introduction

The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) is home to several Indigenous Peoples, including the Igorot, Kalinga, and Ifugao (Yogaswara 2004). These Indigenous Peoples have their unique cultural traditions and religious beliefs. The Cordilleran youth inherit these traditions and beliefs from their elders and incorporate them into their daily lives (Camacho et al. 2016). Religious practices among Cordilleran youth include the sacrifice of animals, offerings to ancestral spirits, and the use of herbal medicines (Celino 1990). Their religious beliefs also shape their attitudes toward environmental conservation, as they view nature as sacred and believe it should be protected and preserved (Molino 2022).

Religiosity plays a vital role in the lives of Cordilleran youth. For them, religious beliefs are not just a set of practices but a way of life that permeates all aspects of their existence (Camacho et al. 2016). Religious rituals and practices are integrated into daily life, including agricultural activities, social events, and community gatherings (Celino 1990). One of the most essential aspects of Cordilleran religious beliefs is their relationship with the natural world. For Cordilleran youth, nature is not simply a resource to be exploited but a sacred entity that must be respected and protected (Molino 2022). The Cordilleran people deeply respect the environment, and their religious beliefs play a crucial role in shaping their attitudes toward environmental conservation.

In addition to their traditional religious beliefs, Cordilleran youth are influenced by modern religious practices, particularly Christianity. Many Cordilleran youths have embraced Christianity but have also found ways to incorporate their Indigenous beliefs into their Christian practices (Aguilar 2018). This has led to hybrid religious practices that blend Indigenous and Christian beliefs.

Overall, religiosity among Cordilleran youth is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that reflects the Cordillera region’s rich cultural and spiritual traditions. By understanding the role of religiosity in the lives of Cordilleran youth, we can gain insights into their cultural identity, values, beliefs, and attitudes toward the environment.

Religions may be defined as attitudes, beliefs, and practices about supernatural power (Ember et al. 2019). It usually concerns the universe’s cause, nature, and purpose, mainly when considering the creation of a superhuman agency. It involves devotional and ritual observances and often contains a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs. Religions worldwide vary widely and are also formed by complex social and cultural customs and rituals addressing human needs for sacred and supernatural meaning (Halafoff et al. 2020). As the pandemic spreads, issues of religious belief have become increasingly prevalent (Sobol et al. 2022). Indigenous Peoples are no exception to this phenomenon. Although colonization and imperialism through policies, settlers, or missionaries might have significantly altered life for Indigenous Peoples worldwide, many Indigenous communities have hybridized religious beliefs and practices (Chidester 2013; Ogunbado 2012). Moreover, for many Indigenous Peoples, traditional ways of life and activities are often intermingled with religion and spirituality (Ammerman 2016).

Religion is essential to Indigenous Peoples. One of the main elements of Indigenous religions is the level of interconnectedness between their land, plant, and animal world, metaphysical beings, supernatural forces, and rituals (Armstrong 2006; Kemmerer 2012). Carroll (2019) said interconnectedness runs through Indigenous Peoples’ ontology, epistemology, worldviews, and ethics. In contrast, Fonda (2011) stated that Indigenous cultures do not have a marked conceptual separation between sacred and secular. Their religious practices and spiritual beliefs are central to their identity and form the core of their life. For example, Cox (2007) cites the example of the Inuit in Alaska, for whom religion corresponds to their traditional ways of relating to their land and the sea. Sable and Francis (2012) highlighted this interconnectedness by using the Mi’kmaw religion, which considers language, myth, ritual, culture, and land as inseparable elements of the whole. Part of such a complex, continuously evolving system is the deep association of Indigenous with all aspects of the physical world. This also holds for the context of Latin America (Zwetsch 2015) and other Indigenous Peoples.

Religion has been an integral part of the lives of Indigenous Peoples. It has played a vital role in shaping their culture, identity, and worldview. The relationship between religion and Indigenous Peoples is complex and multifaceted, involving the intersection of culture, tradition, and spirituality. Religion serves as a way of life for Indigenous Peoples, providing them with guidance, support, and a sense of community. Importantly, the religiosity among Indigenous Peoples is shaped by their unique history, environment, and cultural practices. Their religious traditions are often tied to the natural world as they view nature as a sacred entity interconnected with all living beings. Moreover, their religious beliefs are often oral, as they are passed down from generation to generation through storytelling and rituals (Oruc 2022).

Given this phenomenon, this research article attempted to investigate and discuss the religiosity of the Cordilleran Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines concerning their Indigenous culture and Christian traditions. One finds that the coexistence of different Indigenous youth perspectives can be expressed in the engagement of their autochthonous culture and religious practices. The Christian tradition and the Indigenous culture correlate by focusing on the spiritual and religiosity of the Cordilleran people. An attitude of mutual respect and understanding between Christians and Indigenous Peoples can achieve inter-religiosity.

1.1. Cordilleran Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines

Indigenous Peoples in various parts of the world face challenges and threats to their identity, culture, and religion (Harff and Gurr 2004). Some Indigenous groups even face exploitation, exclusion, abuse, discrimination, and injustice in their lands. By recognizing these prevailing struggles of the Indigenous Peoples, Pope Francis (Holy See Press Office 2017) called for reconciling their right to existence and development with the protection of the particular characteristics of Indigenous Peoples.

In the Philippines, the Indigenous Peoples Right Act (IPRA), also known as the Republic Act 8371 of 1997 (GOV.PH 1997), defined an Indigenous People/Indigenous cultural community (IP/ICC) as a “group of people or homogenous societies identified by self-ascription and ascription by others, who have continuously lived as an organized community on communally bounded and defined territory, and who have, under claims of ownership since time immemorial, occupied, possessed and utilized such habitats, sharing common bonds of language, customs, traditions, and other distinctive cultural traits, or who have, through resistance to political, social and cultural inroads of colonization, non-indigenous religions, and cultures, became historically differentiated from the majority of Filipinos”.

In the rugged Cordillera region of the northern Philippines, there is an Indigenous population of approximately 1.2 million people (GOV.PH n.d.; Philippine Statistics Authority 2022), which is the traditional domain of the Igorot, or mountain people. Igorot have many common characteristics and belong to six ethnolinguistic tribes: the Ibaloy, Kankana-ey, Ifugao, Kalinga, Apayao/Isneg, and the Bontoc (Tauli-Corpuz 2000). Cordillera region has the second largest concentration of Indigenous groups next to the island of Mindanao (Simbulan 2016; Verzola 2007). The geographic condition of the region earned them the collective name Igorots from the Spanish word Igorrotes, which means “of the hill or mountain” (Scott 1977).

Igorots of the Cordillera are Indigenous People with a distinct culture that they pass on from generation to generation (Molintas 2019). At a discussion on the Cordillera Image at the University of the Philippines campus in Baguio, a woman questioned the speaker’s use of the term ‘Cordillera’ as she preferred the term ‘Igorot’ (Abad 2004). Following this incident, there seems to have been a misunderstanding regarding using the terms Igorot, often associated with stereotyping and ethnocentrism. In addition, Scott (1977) also observed that for some, the word Igorot carries the pejorative connotation of being pagan and uncivilized (p. 52), which in reality is untrue.

1.2. Inter-Religiosity among Cordilleran Indigenous Peoples

The Cordilleran region has a rich religious history, with Indigenous beliefs and practices coexisting with the introduction of Christianity by Spanish colonizers in the 16th century. This has resulted in a unique blend of traditional and Christian beliefs among the Cordilleran people Peterson (2010). In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the religiosity of Cordilleran youth, with studies suggesting that they have a strong sense of spiritual identity and a deep connection to their cultural heritage (Del Castillo 2022b).

One study by Peterson (2010) explored the religious practices and beliefs of Cordilleran youth in Baguio City. The study found that while many of the youth were raised in Christian families and attended church regularly, they also participated in traditional Cordilleran rituals and practices, such as the cañao (a ritual feast), to connect with their cultural heritage. The study also found that the youth’s religious attitudes and behaviors were shaped by their understanding and interpretation of their cultural beliefs.

Another study conducted by Milagrosa and Slangen (2006) focused on the religious beliefs and practices of Cordilleran youth in the province of Benguet. The study found that the youth’s religiosity was influenced by their social and cultural context, particularly their relationships with family and community members. The study also found that the youth’s religious practices were often tied to their participation in community events and activities, such as festivals and rituals.

There have been theologies of religion and inter-religiosity that have been formulated in the past years. Tran (2018) pointed out the three-fold classification of the Christian attitude toward religious others, including those with autochthonous religions, such as Indigenous Peoples. These paradigms on religious diversity are summarized as follows: religious exclusivism, inclusivism, and religious pluralism (Knitter 2002). Religious exclusivism approaches say that only one religion is true, and the other paths are false. While religious inclusivism shows that one religion is the way to salvation, other paths, however, can also lead to God but can be inferior or incomplete. Lastly, religious pluralism is an approach to religious diversity that points out that all religions are equal and can lead to God.

In the case of the Cordillerans, religious diversity can be traced back to the early missionaries that introduced Christianity to the Igorots of the Cordillera (Taray 2008). Although many Igorots maintained their independence up until the 20th century, most consider themselves marginalized today (Scott 1977; Taray 2008). Peterson (2010) indicates that many Cordilleran Peoples are exoticized and consider themselves less civilized due to maintaining Indigenous rituals. As Howell (2009) noted, many Cordilleran Peoples continue to practice their autochthonous rituals while simultaneously professing the Christian faith. For a Cordilleran to be a Christian requires conscious choice and continuous effort (Del Castillo 2022b; Kibiten 2019). Kibiten (2019) argued that Cordilleran Indigenous youth successfully navigate traditional and modern social systems. Listening to the voices of the marginalized (laylayan) sector in society (Del Castillo 2022b), such as the Indigenous Peoples, must be prioritized in interreligious matters.

1.3. Religiosity among Cordilleran Youth

For the Cordilleran youth, the majority of them were similarly influenced by early missionaries who evangelized the region, aiming to convert the Indigenous Peoples to Christianity to “civilize” and assimilate them into Spanish colonial society (Molino 2022). Sociologically, the influence of family and community also plays a significant role in the religiosity of Cordilleran youth. According to Sherkat (2003), the family is the primary agent of religious socialization, with parents passing on their religious beliefs and practices to their children. Additionally, the community, particularly the church, also serves as a socializing agent that reinforces religious beliefs and practices among the youth.

Furthermore, the sense of identity and belongingness to their culture and ethnicity also influences the religiosity of Cordilleran youth. According to Ecklund (2006), the youth’s religious beliefs and practices are intertwined with their cultural and ethnic identity, as they perceive Christianity as a way of affirming their heritage and distinguishing themselves from other cultures. The Cordilleran youth are Indigenous Peoples that reside in the northern part of the Philippines. They have distinct cultural and religious practices shaped by their unique history and experiences. Their religious practices blend Christianity and traditional animism, which involves the worship of ancestral spirits and nature (Scott 1977). Therefore, the religiosity among Cordilleran youth is shaped by historical and sociological factors, the role of family and community in religious socialization, and the integration of religion with their cultural and ethnic identity.

1.4. Objectives of the Study

In this paper, the researchers looked into the inter-religious construct system of selected university students indigenous to the Cordillera. The Cordilleran youth’s religiosity is particularly interesting to the researchers because their autochthonous religion is marked by a cosmology that includes hundreds of deities and elaborate rituals accompanying personal and social events (Conklin et al. 1980). However, there have been efforts to Christianize many people living in the Cordillera. As such, around 60% of the Ifugao and other people living in the Mountain Province are Catholics (Kwiatkowski 2003; Zapata 2017). Also, there are Indigenous People from the “upland” (areas in the Mountain Province that are above 2100 m) who identify with Protestant Christianity (Howell 2009). Hence, some people living in the Cordillera practice “religious hybridity”.

Religious hybridity can be described as a phenomenon where individuals combine elements from different religious traditions and show varying degrees of attachment to the traditions (Berghuijs et al. 2018). Furthermore, many Indigenous youths are responsible for protecting and preserving their traditional lands, resources, and sacred sites (Fernandez 2016). Nevertheless, as a result of modernization, many Indigenous youths are choosing to pursue careers unrelated to their ancestral heritage but still retain a connection to their traditions. Due to the close relationship that Indigenous People have with their autochthonous religion, culture, and ancestral land, this paper aims to investigate whether the Cordilleran youth have an intense religious life and if faith plays an essential role in their daily lives.

Specifically, this paper answered the following research questions:

• Is the inter-religious Centrality of Religiosity Scale (CRSi) valid for this sample population?
• Are there significant correlations among the subscales of CRSi for the study population?
• Are there differences in the levels of religiosity that appear in inter-religious encounters among the Cordilleran youth based on the sample demographics, such as gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, ethnicity, and area of residence?
• Are there group differences between participants’ demographics and CRSi subscales?

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Study Design and Participants

The current research is designed as a cross-sectional study describing a population phenomenon at a given time (Hulley et al. 2013). The data for this study were collected between September and October of 2021 at a university in the central mountain region of the northern Philippines as part of an in-classroom activity for a religion-related course. Notably, the activity is non-graded and strictly voluntary, allowing the participants to withdraw from answering at any time without consequences. The data collection involved 515 students, but only 151 met the inclusion criteria, which required participants to be Filipinos and members of Indigenous communities. Since the remaining 364 participants were not members of Indigenous communities, they were excluded from this study. All participants gave their consent.

The average age of participants was 19 years old. Among the participants, 96 (or 64%) were female and 47 (or 31%) were male. In comparison, the remaining 8 (or 5%) were intersex, which refers to people who are born with sex characteristics (such as genitals, gonads, and chromosome patterns) that do not fit within the binary conceptions of male and female bodies (United Nations Development Programme and Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines 2018). Most participants were Catholic (119 or 79%) or affiliated with Christian denominations (30 or 20%). As for their ethnicity, 54 (or 36%) were Kankanaey, 15 (or 10%) were Ifugao, 14 (or 9%) were Ibaloi, and several other minorities.

2.2. Instrument and Measures

To provide empirical grounding to the salience of religiosity among Cordilleran youth, this study utilized the inter-religious form of the Centrality of Religiosity Scale (CRSi-20) (Huber and Huber 2012) to determine whether religion occupies a central place in the lives of selected Cordilleran youths.

Participants’ background demographics, such as gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, ethnicity, and residential area, were collected together with their self-reported level of religiosity. The self-reported level of religiosity was measured using the inter-religious Centrality of Religiosity Scale (CRSi) versions CRSi-7 (7 items), CRSi-14 (14 items), and CRSi-20 (20 items) (Huber and Huber 2012). CRSi is a widely used instrument that measures the centrality and salience of religious meanings or significance in a person’s life; the CRSi instrument consists of five subscales: intellect, ideology, public practice, private practice, and religious experience. Data were collected using five-point Likert (1932) type scales for most of the items, except for three items (how often do you pray, how often do you meditate, and how often do you take part in religious services), wherein an eight-points frequency of the behavior was collected [for more information on CRSi items, subscales computations, and religiosity levels, please see Huber and Huber (2012).

2.3. Data Analysis

Descriptive statistics, such as the mean, standard deviation (SD), skewness, and kurtosis, were used to describe the data distribution of the CRSi items, while intercorrelations and group comparisons (independent samples t-test and analysis of variance; ANOVA) of the background demographics and CRSi subscales were all accomplished using the SPSS version 26.0 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA) on loan from the university. The normality of the data was assessed by examining the skewness and kurtosis of the data distribution (Kline 2005), while multivariate normality was evaluated using Mardia’s (1970) test. Succeeding confirmatory factor analysis to validate the different CRSi versions was completed using the SPSS AMOS version 28.0 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA) on the lease agreement from Hearne software. Several commonly used fit criteria were used for model validation, such as Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR), Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), goodness of fit index (GFI), Tucker–Lewis Index (TLI), and comparative fit index (CFI) (Byrne 2010; Henseler et al. 2015; Hu and Bentler 1999; Lam 2012). The internal consistency of the CRSi was assessed by computing Cronbach’s (1951) alpha while construct validity and reliability were evaluated by calculating the composite reliability (CR), average variance extracted (AVE), discriminant validity (DV), and the heterotrait-monotrait ratio of correlations (HTMT) of the variables (Anderson and Gerbing 1988; Fornell and Larcker 1981).

3. Results

3.1. CRSi Validations

Descriptive statistics and normality were used to evaluate the data distribution for the three versions (CRSi-7, CRSi-14, and CRSi-20). At first glance,

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of CRSi-7, CRSi-14, and CRSi-20.

CRSi Versions	Subscales	Mean	SD	Skewness	Kurtosis	Cronbach’s α
CRSi-7	Intellect	3.59	1.00	−0.39	−0.28	na
	Ideology	4.72	0.69	−3.08	10.91	na
	Public practice	4.36	1.03	−1.38	0.58	na
	Private practice	4.56	0.91	−2.05	3.20	na
	Religious experience	4.17	0.85	−0.92	0.66	na
	CRSi-7 Mean	4.28	0.59	−1.72	4.42	0.67
CRSi-14	Intellect	3.81	0.90	−0.53	−0.26	0.66
	Ideology	4.38	0.75	−1.69	3.54	0.50
	Public practice	4.36	0.82	−1.20	0.57	0.62
	Private practice	4.69	0.66	−2.83	8.70	0.66
	Religious experience	4.03	0.82	−0.92	0.93	0.80
	CRSi-14 Mean	4.25	0.59	−1.81	5.12	0.84
CRSi-20	Intellect	3.68	0.84	−0.55	−0.10	0.75
	Ideology	4.40	0.71	−1.37	1.71	0.69
	Public practice	4.32	0.77	−1.25	1.51	0.70
	Private practice	4.51	0.68	−2.51	7.62	0.78
	Religious experience	4.02	0.81	−1.04	1.25	0.86
	CRSi-20 Mean	4.18	0.60	−1.69	4.50	0.90

Notes. N = 151, na = not applicable.

shows that the select Indigenous Filipinos are pretty religious, with overall CRSi scores over 4 in all the different versions. However, findings also show a violation of the normality of the data because the skewness and kurtosis all exceed the ±2.0 for skewness and ±7.0 for kurtosis (Cunningham 2008). Mardia’s (1970) test is also unsuccessful, with values above +1.96 or below −1.96 (Mardia 1974). To remedy this, DeCarlo (1997) noted that testing for skewness and kurtosis is considered necessary but not sufficient for testing the assumption of multivariate normality. Hence, the bootstrap method (sampling repeated 2000 times) was applied for the succeeding computations (Yung and Bentler 1996). Lastly, Cronbach’s (1951) alphas are also provided, with acceptable internal consistencies only for the CRSi-20 version, with values ranging from 0.69 to 0.90, denoting adequate to high reliabilities (Cohen et al. 2007).

Table 2. Measures of goodness of fit indices for all the CRSi test models.

CRSi	Models	CMIN	df	p	CMIN/df	RMSEA	(90% CI)	SRMR	GFI	CFI	TLI
CRSi-7	1	11.72	5	0.039	2.345	0.095	(0.020–0.166)	0.046	0.97	0.94	0.88
CRSi-14	2	103.97	35	0.000	2.971	0.115	(0.090–0.140)	0.071	0.87	0.86	0.82
	3	29.33	25	0.250	1.173	0.034	(0.000–0.077)	0.037	0.96	0.99	0.98
	4	na	na	na	na	na	na	na	na	na	na
CRSi-20	5	284.33	90	0.000	3.159	0.120	(0.104–0.136)	0.079	0.78	0.82	0.79
	6	146.08	80	0.000	1.826	0.074	(0.055–0.093)	0.055	0.89	0.94	0.92
	7	na	na	na	na	na	na	na	na	na	na

Notes. Model 1 = single-factor CRSi-7, Model 2 = single-factor CRSi-14, Model 3 = five-factor CRSi-14, Model 4 = five-factor CRSi-14 with one higher-order factor, Model 5 = single-factor CRSi-20, Model 6 = five-factor CRSi-20, and Model 7 = five-factor CRSi-20 with one higher-order factor. CMIN = Chi-square, df = degrees of freedom, RMSEA = Root Mean Square Error of Approximation, CI = confidence interval, SRMR = Standardized Root Mean Square Residual, GFI = goodness of fit index, CFI = comparative fit index, and TLI = Tucker–Lewis index. na = not applicable (no resulting values).

shows the model fits for the confirmatory factor analysis of the different CRSi models. For previous CRSi validation studies, it is customary to test the other measurement models (del Castillo et al. 2020). Hereon, these models are identified as follows: Model 1 is the single-factor CRSi-7, Model 2 is the single-factor CRSi-14, Model 3 is CRSi-14 with five factors, Model 4 is CRSi-14 with five factors and one higher-order factor, Model 5 is a single-factor CRSi-20, Model 6 is CRSi-20 with five factors, and Model 7 is CRSi-20 with five factors and one higher-order factor. Findings show that among the seven models, only Model 3 showed both an acceptable measure of reliability and a good model fit with SRMR = 0.037, RMSEA = 0.034 (90% CI < 0.001 and 0.077), GFI = 0.96, TLI = 0.98, and CFI = 0.99, wherein all of the criteria fall within the prescribed cutoff values (Byrne 2010; Henseler et al. 2015; Hu and Bentler 1999; Lam 2012). For the current study, CMIN (or chi-square) values were not considered much since they are quite sensitive to small sample sizes (Alavi et al. 2020). Furthermore, in addition to meeting the criteria for model fit, Model 3 was still considered even with the low alpha reliability for one of the sub-scales. It is important to note that previous studies examining CRSi in the Philippines have all used CRSi-20 (please see (del Castillo et al. 2020, 2021)). Nonetheless, for the current study, CRSi-14 will be used as the basis for the subsequent analysis.

3.2. Correlation Analysis and Validity Tests

Table 3. Construct validity, reliability, and intercorrelations of CRSi-14 subscales.

CRSi-14 Subscales	CR	AVE	DV	1	2	3	4	5
1. Intellect	0.70	0.56	0.75	1	0.358 **	0.454 **	0.396 **	0.438 **
2. Ideology	0.57	0.41	0.64	0.61	1	0.462 **	0.427 **	0.456 **
3. Public practice	0.65	0.49	0.70	0.72	0.83	1	0.537 **	0.342 **
4. Private practice	0.71	0.56	0.75	0.60	0.79	0.84	1	0.564 **
5. Religious experience	0.81	0.68	0.82	0.59	0.74	0.49	0.76	1

Notes. N = 151. Numbers 1 to 5 correspond to the subscales. Overall Cronbach alpha reliability of the entire survey = 0.91. Values below the diagonals are the HTMT. Pearson correlation coefficients are above the diagonals with ** p < 0.01.

shows the correlation matrix for the CRSi-14 subscales together with their CR, AVE, DV, and HTMT values. Findings show that besides the subscale ideology and public practice having CR values of 0.57 and 0.65, the rest of the subscales all have CR values higher than 0.70. In addition, AVE values are above 0.40, while DV is more than their correlations, all of which are within the recommended cutoff values (Abma et al. 2016; Fornell and Larcker 1981; Hu and Bentler 1999; Lam 2012). Moreover, HTMT values are below 0.90, signifying liberal discriminant validity (Henseler et al. 2015).

For the intercorrelations, Table 3 also shows that CRSi-14 subscales are pretty correlated with one another. For example, intellect is positively correlated with ideology (r = 0.358, p < 0.01), public practice (r = 0.454, p < 0.01), private practice (r = 0.396, p < 0.01), and religious experience (r = 0.438, p < 0.01). Likewise, ideology is positively correlated with public practice (r = 0.462, p < 0.01), private practice (r = 0.427, p < 0.01), and religious experience (r = 0.456, p < 0.01), while public practice is positively correlated with private practice (r = 0.537, p < 0.01) and religious experience (r = 0.342, p < 0.01). Lastly, private practice is positively correlated with religious experience (r = 0.564, p < 0.01).

3.3. Participants’ Demographics and Their Levels of Religiosity

For a more detailed presentation of the participants’ background demographics, the data are further categorized into three different levels of religiosities.

Table 4. Participants’ background demographics and religiosity levels.

Category	Non-Religious	Religious	Highly Religious	Total
Gender
Female	1	20	75	96
Male	2	9	36	47
Intersex	0	3	5	8
Gender identity
Woman	0	20	73	93
Man	2	9	35	46
Transgender	1	3	8	12
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual (straight)	1	22	87	110
Bisexual	2	7	6	15
Gay	0	1	4	5
Not listed	0	2	19	21
Religious affiliation
Catholic	3	24	92	119
other Christian denominations	0	6	24	30
others (Muslim, folk religion, etc.)	0	2	0	2
Ethnicity
Kankanaey	0	10	44	54
Ilocano	1	2	11	14
Kalinga	0	1	8	9
Bontoc	0	3	5	8
Ifugao	1	2	12	15
Tagalog	0	2	4	6
Balangao	0	2	5	7
Ibaloi	1	2	11	14
others	0	8	16	24
Area of resident
Urban (city)	3	22	67	92
Rural (countryside)	0	10	49	59
CRSi-14 1
CRSi-14 Intellect	1.67	3.17	4.04	3.81
CRSi-14 Ideology	1.67	3.86	4.60	4.38
CRSi-14 Public practice	2.17	3.47	4.66	4.36
CRSi-14 Private practice	2.17	4.22	4.89	4.69
CRSi-14 Experience	1.50	3.44	4.26	4.03
CRSi-14 Mean	1.83	3.63	4.49	4.25
Age 2	15	18	20	19

Notes. N = 151. ¹ Mean values. ² Mean ages are in years. Non-religious (n = 3), religious (n = 32), and highly religious (n = 116).

presents a more detailed breakdown of the participants according to their background demographics and the different mean scores of the CRSi-14 subscales. In general, the select group of Cordilleran Indigenous Filipinos is pretty religious, with 116 (or 77%) categorized as highly religious and 32 (or 21%) as religious. Moreover, more than half of the participants also live in the city, 92 (or 61%), and the remaining 59 (or 39%) reside in rural areas. Regarding gender identity and sexual orientation, around 12 (or 8%) are self-proclaimed transgender, and about 41 (or 27%) claimed to be bisexual, gay, or not listed. Accordingly, the mean scores for the CRSi-14 subscales were lower for the non-religious and higher for the religious and highly religious individuals. Finally, older participants appeared more religious than their younger counterparts, as shown by the mean age of 15, 18, and 20, respectively, for the non-religious, religious, and high-religious participants.

3.4. Test for Group Differences between Participants’ Demographics and CRSi-14 Subscales

To further understand if there are any significant differences between the Cordilleran Indigenous youths’ background demographics and religiosity, several independent sample t-tests and ANOVA were accomplished (please see

Table 5. Differences between the participants’ sexual orientation and CRSi-14 subscales.

Sexual Orientations and CRSi-14	Mean	SD	F	p	Cohen’s f	Post-hoc
CRSi-14 Intellect			3.50	0.017	0.256	G4 > G2 *
Heterosexual (straight)	3.88	0.87
Bisexual	3.27	0.86
Gay	3.10	0.96
Not listed	3.98	0.90
CRSi-14 Ideology			4.27	0.006	0.284	G1 > G2 *
Heterosexual (straight)	4.43	0.70				G4 > G2 *
Bisexual	3.77	1.10
Gay	4.40	0.42
Not listed	4.57	0.55
CRSi-14 Public practice			2.97	0.034	0.207	G4 > G2 *
Heterosexual (straight)	4.39	0.79
Bisexual	3.83	1.01
Gay	4.20	1.30
Not listed	4.62	0.52
CRSi-14 Private practice			3.07	0.030	0.166	G4 > G2 *
Heterosexual (straight)	4.70	0.60
Bisexual	4.37	0.90
Gay	4.30	1.57
Not listed	4.95	0.22
CRSi-14 Experience			3.20	0.025	0.229	G1 > G2 *
Heterosexual (straight)	4.06	0.81				G4 > G2 *
Bisexual	3.47	0.92
Gay	4.00	1.17
Not listed	4.29	0.54

Notes. N = 151. G1 = heterosexual (straight), n = 110; G2 = bisexual, n = 15; G3 = gay, n = 5; and G4 = not listed, n = 21. * p < 0.05.

and

Table 6. Differences between the participants’ area of residence and CRSi-14 subscales.

CRSi-14 Subscales	Urban (n = 92)		Rural (n = 59)		t	p	Cohen’s d
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Intellect	3.80	0.98	3.81	0.77	0.06	0.951	ns
Ideology	4.26	0.85	4.58	0.48	3.02	0.003	0.464
Public practice	4.20	0.91	4.60	0.59	3.28	0.001	0.522
Private practice	4.65	0.72	4.76	0.54	1.06	0.290	ns
Religious experience	3.96	0.92	4.14	0.64	1.27	0.207	ns
CRSi-14 Mean	4.17	0.66	4.38	0.41	2.34	0.020	0.382

Notes. N = 151, ns = non-significant.

). Interestingly, findings show no significant gender differences or differences between gender identities, religious affiliations, and ethnicities. However, significant differences were found in all CRSi-14 subscales regarding the participants’ sexual orientations. Within the ANOVA results, heterosexual or straight individuals have significantly higher CRSi-14 subscale scores than bisexuals. Similarly, this is also true with all the CRSi-14 subscales, except intellect, wherein not-listed individuals have significantly higher scores than bisexuals. Interestingly, independent sample t-test results noted significant differences between participants who live in the city and rural areas. It would seem that participants living in rural areas scored significantly higher in the CRSi-14 subscales of ideology and public practice. Note that all of the effect sizes (for ANOVA ranging from 0.166 to 0.284 and independent sample t-tests ranging from 0.382 to 0.522) of the significant differences are considered moderately large (Cohen 1988).

4. Discussion

4.1. Validation of CRS and Levels of Religiosity among Cordilleran Indigenous Youth

The CRS of various inter-religious versions (CRSi-7, CRSi-14, CRSi-20) had a suitable fit for this sample, with the CRSi-14 version having somewhat adequate reliabilities. These significant results indicate that CRS is inter-religious and appropriate for measuring religiosity in the diversity of religious belief systems co-existing in any given society. Huber and Huber (2012) described the CRS as an instrument that measures the “centrality, importance or salience of religious meanings” (p. 711) in a given context of an individual’s life. As was suggested by many other samples (see Abbasi et al. 2019; del Castillo et al. 2020; Dua et al. 2020; Kambara et al. 2020; Lee and Kuang 2020), the salience of religiosity in Cordilleran youth life is represented in five core dimensions: ideology, intellect, public practice, private practice, and religious experience (Huber and Huber 2012). They further stated that “from a psychological perspective, the five core dimensions can be seen as channels or modes in which personal religious constructs are shaped and activated” (p. 710). Ultimately, the activation of these religious constructs in one’s life could be regarded as a valid measure of the degree of religiosity of that individual (Huber and Huber 2012).

Concerning the levels of religiosity, the majority of Cordilleran Indigenous youth are quite religious, with about two-thirds having been categorized as highly religious. These results conform with Del Castillo’s (2022a) study on the religious beliefs and practices of Cordilleran Christian youth in the Philippines. As Del Castillo suggested, this study’s participants expressed high religiosity, where they see God as creator, provider, and savior. They see their Indigenous religious rituals as expressing gratitude or supplication to the divine. Moreover, they seem to understand their religiosity as practiced through acculturated forms of Christian worship, Catholic liturgy, and popular piety.

Accordingly, CRSI assumes that the general intensity of the five core dimensions of religiosity in Cordilleran Indigenous youth can be viewed as an estimate of the frequency and intensity of activation of their religious construct system. Consequently, their religious construct system is more likely to play a central role in the lives of Cordilleran Indigenous youth with an overall intensity and frequency of activation (Huber and Huber 2012).

4.2. Correlations among CRSi-14 Subscales

The CRSi-14 is measured on five core dimensions: ideology, intellect, public practice, private practice, and religious experience (Huber and Huber 2012). Findings in this study showed that CRSi-14 subscales are quite correlated with one another. For example, intellect is positively correlated with ideology. The intellect dimension of religiosity represents cognitive issues, such as the frequency people think about religious themes, show interest in learning various religious topics, and ask questions about religiosity. The ideology dimension of religiosity assesses the beliefs about the existence of higher power and after-life themes. The positive correlation between intellect and ideology dimensions of religiosity among the Cordilleran Indigenous youth suggests that they appropriately seek the answers to the existence of God or higher power and the state of life after death through intellectual probing and reflection.

The positive correlation between intellect and public practice dimensions also indicates that the Cordilleran Indigenous youth immerse in their intellectual probing and cognitive reflection by partaking in religious services and public prayers, expressing their connection to a religious community. Del Castillo (2022a) affirmed that the Cordilleran Indigenous Peoples actively participate in many inculturated forms of religious worship and rituals. Cordilleran Indigenous Peoples also tend to fulfill their intellectual curiosity about religion by attending public religious services. Most participants were affiliated with Christianity, either Catholicism or Protestant denominations. It is known that these religions emphasize public and private rituals.

The intellect dimension of religiosity is also positively correlated with private practice. Private prayer and meditation appear to be very important for the Cordilleran Indigenous youth. As highly religious people, the Cordilleran Indigenous youth seem to spontaneously engage in personal prayers, particularly when inspired by daily events or tackling regular incidents. Intellectual religious themes and topics happen to encounter everyday experiences in their private practice of religiosity. Intellect and religious experience are also positively correlated for Cordilleran Indigenous youth. The actual experience of the divine or believing that the divine intervenes in their life further deepens their intellectual dimension of religiosity.

Ideology as a belief in the existence of God and the after-life themes is naturally and positively correlated with both the public and private practice of religiosity for Cordilleran Indigenous youth. Del Castillo’s (2022a) research affirmed that the Cordilleran Indigenous Peoples often pray for various needs, such as keeping family safe, the sick and the dead, and general blessings from God. Del Castillo’s study also revealed that Cordilleran Indigenous Peoples often attend Bible studies and sharing groups where they share thoughts, express problems, advise each other, and seek God’s guidance. Ideology is also positively correlated with religious experience. Belief in the existence of God or the presence of divine power helps Cordilleran Indigenous youth experience life situations as divine interventions and revelations. For Cordilleran Indigenous youth, religious experience is feeling one with the divine in a given life situation.

As expected, both public and private practice are positively correlated with religious experience. It is not difficult to understand that public and private exhibitions of prayers, meditation, scripture readings, worship, and liturgical celebrations, either with oneself or amid a religious community, make the participants feel that they are one with God and the community. Del Castillo (2022a) suggested that the Cordilleran Indigenous Peoples can practice their religious beliefs through service to people with low incomes, teaching the faith to children, and serving at liturgical events.

4.3. Demographic Differences in Religiosity Dimensions

The independent sample t-tests and ANOVA was used to investigate significant differences between the Cordilleran Indigenous youth demographics and religiosity, which showed no significant differences in gender, religious affiliation, and ethnicity. However, significant differences were found in all CRSi-14 subscales regarding the participants’ sexual orientation, with heterosexual or straight individuals having significantly higher CRSi-14 subscale scores than bisexuals. Rodriguez et al. (2013) highlighted how the expected cultural and social norms in a given society, as experienced by bisexuals, may facilitate or impede the integration of religiosity. Given that there is a greater perception of religion as an oppressive force for the LGBTQ community, it is not surprising that the Cordilleran Indigenous youth who identified as bisexuals had lower scores than the heterosexuals on religiosity.

Research suggests that religiosity might operate differently for sexual minorities relative to sexual majority youth. Furthermore, religion is a potential stressor due to the prevalence of homophobia and heterosexist ideals in society more broadly and in the religious context (Corbin et al. 2020). Given this operation, it is evident that the bisexual Cordilleran Indigenous youth identified less with the dimensions of religiosity.

The assessment also noted significant differences between participants living in the city and those in rural areas. Participants in rural areas scored higher in the CRSi-14 subscales of ideology, public practice, and religious experience. Nikkhah et al. (2015) explained this difference by employing sociology concepts. In urban societies in transition, the situations cause a social chaos mode where the collective spirit is inefficient in modulating human interactions and may even encourage individualism. Urban life draws attention toward alienation and the fall of a sense of cohesive culture. Separation or distance is the primary dimension of sociability in urban areas. In rural areas, emotional relations exist in the unconscious dimensions of the psyche, and their everyday life is facilitated through customs and traditions. This understanding seems to aptly apply to the Cordilleran Indigenous youth as well, where the youth in the rural settings seem to exhibit higher levels of religiosity, mainly through the dimensions of religious ideology, the communitarian practice of religion, and the experience that they are one with all, including the divine.

4.4. Limitations and Future Directions

This study provides an overview of the importance of religiosity among Cordilleran Christian youth. It defined the coexistence of different Indigenous youth perspectives as expressed in the engagement of their autochthonous culture and religious practices. However, due to the limited number of participants during the pandemic in 2021, further studies may be conducted to validate the results. Other researchers can pursue studies using a larger sample and involving other Indigenous groups.

5. Conclusions

An analysis of the religiosity of Indigenous youth in the Cordillera in this manner is novel and unique. Based on the data analysis, the study shows that most Cordilleran Indigenous youth are highly religious. In a diverse community where different religious and Indigenous traditions are practiced, Cordilleran Indigenous youth continue practicing religious and cultural beliefs. Faith plays an essential role in their daily lives.

In addition, the data results showed that they favored private practice and scored highly on the ideology dimension of religiosity. In other words, the Cordilleran Indigenous youth believe that a transcendent reality exists. The appreciation and acknowledgment of God’s existence in an inter-religious community is present. For them, the conscious choice and continuous effort to navigate traditional and modern social systems are essential.

Furthermore, in public and private spaces, they engage in activities and rituals that contribute to their experience of transcendence. Eggan and Scott (1965) classified the ritual life of the Cordilleran Indigenous Peoples as a hybrid, suggesting that their Indigenous cultural practices were influenced by the Christian teachings of the early missionaries. The inter-religiosity is shown in the interconnectedness of faith and culture among the Indigenous youth. They practice the traditional rituals of their community and integrate them with their religious affiliations and belief systems. However, given the results from this study, researchers argue that instead of hybridity, the concept of ambivalence may be used to describe the religiosity of the select Cordilleran Indigenous youth. Ambivalence is defined as the coexistence of different ideas or feelings in the mind or a single context (Nel 2017).

The richness of the Indigenous culture and the intense missionary work in the Cordilleran regions continue to transform these communities’ cultural and religious conditions. Traditional beliefs and religious practices mutually coexist for the Cordilleran Indigenous Peoples. This ambivalence seems to illuminate the integration of Indigenous tradition and religion, assisting the Cordilleran Indigenous youth to commune with transcendence, practice their religious beliefs, and experience the various dimensions of religiosity.