Interfaith Diversity Experiences &
Attitudes Longitudinal Survey
Study Overview
The first study of its kind, the Interfaith Diversity Experiences & Attitudes Longitudinal
Survey (IDEALS) is a national, longitudinal study of undergraduates and seeks to examine
how students engage with and make meaning of religious, nonreligious, and worldview
diversity while in college. Ultimately, IDEALS helps ensure that scholars and practitioners
will have the empirical means necessary to design and enact inclusive educational practices
intended to help students engage in productive exchanges across worldview difference—a
skill set we believe can benefit our global society.
IDEALS has four primary purposes. First, it generates a national profile of entering first-year
students to illuminate their capacity for engaging religious and non-religious differences, as
well as what they expect from their institutions when it comes to issues of worldview
diversity on campus. Second, IDEALS assesses change and development in students’
attitudes and behaviors during college. Third, IDEALS reveals what students are observing
and experiencing with regard to religious and worldview diversity on campus. Finally, core
to the IDEALS project is the “what works?” question: Namely, what are the high-impact
practices that make the greatest difference in students’ attitudes and skills to cooperate
across religious and non-religious differences?
Research Design
Using a sampling frame based on institutional type and control (public, private
nonsectarian, private-Mainline Protestant, private-Evangelical Protestant, and privateCatholic) and basic Carnegie classification, the IDEALS research team recruited 122 U.S.
institutions to take part in the study. In summer and fall 2015, first-term students at those
institutions were surveyed, providing a snapshot of incoming students’ capacity for
interfaith engagement and attitudes toward worldview diversity. Over 20,000 students
responded (n = 20,436). In spring/fall 2016, researchers administered a second survey to
the students who responded at Time 1 to learn more about their experiences in the first
year of college; the process elicited 7,194 usable responses.1 To more fully understand the
ways in which four years of college shape interfaith attitudes and behaviors, researchers
will survey the fall 2015 cohort a third time during their fourth year in Spring 2019.
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Data for the Time 2 sample of n = 7,194 are those available for grant recipients.
In terms of sampling characteristics of the 7,194 students who completed waves 1 and 2 of
the longitudinal study, 44% were enrolled in Public Institutions, followed by 23% in PrivateNonsectarian institutions; 18% from Mainline Protestant institutions; 9% from Catholic
institutions; and 6% from Evangelical Protestant institutions. When these students began
college, 54% identified as part of the worldview majority (e.g., Roman Catholic); 29% had a
non-religious worldview perspective (e.g., agnostic); 16% claimed a worldview minority
identity (e.g., Muslim); and the remaining 2% were of another worldview. Most of the
students identified as female (70%), with 29% identifying as male and another 1% as
another gender identity. Racially, 62% identified as White; 13% as Asian/Pacific Islander;
10% as Multi-racial; 7% as Latino/a/x; 5% as African American/Black; 1% as another race;
and less than 1% as Native American.
Guiding Theories and Models
Multiple interdisciplinary lenses guide IDEALS:
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Astin’s (1993) Input-Environment-Outcome (I-E-O) Model: The I-E-O framework
enables researchers to identify the effects of interfaith experiences on attitudes,
while accounting for pre-college sources of influence (e.g., attitudes at college entry,
high school educational experiences, family background, personal characteristics)
that might play a role in shaping students’ attitudes.
Campus Diversity Climate Model (Hurtado, Milem, Clayton-Pedersen, & Allen,
1998): The model provides a framework to examine various features of college
environments—in particular, the structural, psychological, and behavioral
dimensions of climate—that are known to influence intergroup attitudes.
Intergroup Contact Theory (Allport, 1954; Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006): IDEALS is
based on the notion that students’ educational experiences with religious diversity
must assume certain optimal qualities—equal status, cooperation, common goals,
and institutional support—to support positive attitude formation and reduce
prejudice. Experiences in college, whether social interactions between students of
different worldviews or co-curricular experiences that expose students to diverse
perspectives, are expected to have stronger effects on outcomes when they take on
these optimal qualities.
Pluralism (Eck, 1993): The work of IDEALS and its measures draw heavily from Eck’s
(1993) comprehensive definition of pluralism. Within the scope of IDEALS, pluralism
involves actively engaging with diversity; moving from tolerance to acceptance of
others; recognizing commitment as distinct from, and possible amidst, relativism;
and recognizing and appreciating worldview differences as well as commonalities
(Eck, 1993).
IDEALS Scales
Listed below are the IDEALS environment/experience and outcome scales, along with
sample items for each category. A comprehensive list of items for each scale can be found
in the IDEALS codebook.
Environment/Experience Scales – Experiences with Worldview Diversity and Campus
Climate
Structural Worldview Diversity
“This campus is very religiously diverse.”
Divisiveness on Campus
“Religious and nonreligious differences create a sense of division on this campus.”
Space for Support and Spiritual Expression
“There is a place on this campus where I can express my personal worldview.”
Welcoming Campus
“This campus is a welcoming place for…” (e.g., atheists, Muslims, politically conservative
people, people from different countries)
Insensitivity on Campus
“While you have been enrolled at your college or university, how often have you been
mistreated on campus because of your worldview?”
Coercion on Campus
“While you have been enrolled at your college or university, how often have you felt
pressured by others on campus to change your worldview?”
Provocative Encounters with Worldview Diversity
“While you have been enrolled at your college or university, how often have you felt
challenged to rethink your assumptions about another worldview after someone explained
their worldview to you?”
Negative Interworldview Engagement
“Regarding your interactions with people whose worldviews differ from yours, how often
have you had hurtful, unresolved interactions?”
General Religious/Spiritual Engagement
“Please indicate whether you participated in any of the following activities during your first
year of college…” (e.g., utilized a multi-faith space on campus)
Informal Interfaith Engagement
“Please indicate whether you participated in any of the following activities during your first
year of college…” (e.g., had conversations with people of diverse religious or nonreligious
perspectives about the values you have in common)
Formal Interfaith Engagement
“Please indicate whether you participated in any of the following activities during your first
year of college…” (e.g., attended religious services for a religious tradition that is not your
own)
Other Civic and Diversity Engagement
“Please indicate whether you participated in any of the following activities during your first
year of college…” (e.g., participated in multicultural campus activities)
Curricular Religious and Spiritual Engagement
“Please indicate whether you participated in any of the following activities during your first
year of college…” (e.g., discussed religious diversity in at least one of your general
education courses)
Outcomes Measured by IDEALS
Self-Authored Worldview
“I have thoughtfully considered other religious and nonreligious perspectives before
committing to my current worldview.”
Appreciative Attitudes
“In general, I have a positive attitude toward people in this group…” (e.g., atheists, Muslims,
politically conservative people, people from different countries)
Appreciative Knowledge
“Which of the following statements correctly distinguishes atheists and agnostics?” (e.g.,
Atheists believe in only one God, while agnostics believe in multiple gods; Atheists are
uncertain about whether God exists, while agnostics do not believe in God; Atheists do not
believe in God, while agnostics are uncertain about whether God exists)
Global Citizenship
“I am actively learning about people across the globe who have different religious and
cultural ways of life than I do.”
Goodwill/Acceptance
“I feel a sense of good will toward people of other religious and nonreligious perspectives.”
Appreciation of Commonalities and Differences
“Love is a value that is core to most of the world’s religions.”
Commitment to Interfaith Leadership and Service
“We can overcome many of the world’s major problems if people of different religious and
nonreligious perspectives work together.”
Overall Pluralism Orientation
“I am open to adjusting my beliefs as I learn from other people and have new life
experiences.”
Institutional Sample Characteristics
Affiliation
Number of Institutions
Public
32
Private Nonsectarian
29
Private – Evangelical Protestant
15
Private – Mainline Protestant
32
Private – Roman Catholic
14
Carnegie Classification
Number of Institutions
Research Universities (very high research activity)
15
Research Universities (high research activity)
9
Doctoral/Research Universities
5
Master’s Colleges and Universities (larger programs)
27
Master’s Colleges and Universities (medium programs)
11
Master’s Colleges and Universities (smaller programs)
5
Baccalaureate Colleges (arts and sciences)
35
Baccalaureate Colleges (diverse fields)
13
Special Focus (e.g., seminaries, schools of art/design)
2
Selectivity (per Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges, 2015)
Number of Institutions
Most Competitive
13
Highly Competitive
12
Very Competitive
43
Competitive
40
Less Competitive
6
Noncompetitive
1
Special
2
Unavailable
5
Student Sample Characteristics (n = 7,194)
Participants by Institution
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44% from Public Institutions
23% from Private – Nonsectarian Institutions
18% from Mainline Protestant Institutions
9% from Catholic Institutions
6% from Evangelical Protestant Institutions
Participants by Worldview Identification at Time 1
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54% Worldview Majority
29% Nonreligious
16% Worldview Minority
2% Another Worldview
Participants by Gender
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70% Female
29% Male
1% Another Gender Identity
Participants by Race
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62% White
13% Asian/Pacific Islander
10% Multiracial
7% Latino/a/x
5% African American/Black
1% Another Race
<1% Native American
Participants by Sexual Orientation
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88% Heterosexual
5% Bisexual
3% Another Sexual Orientation
1% Gay
1% Lesbian
1% Queer
Participants by Political Leaning
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3% Very Conservative
16% Conservative
38% Moderate
30% Liberal
12% Very Liberal
References
Allport, G. W. (1954). The nature of prejudice. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Astin, A. W. (1993). What matters in college?: Four critical years revisited. San Francisco: JosseyBass.
Eck, D.L. (1993). Encountering God: A spiritual journey from Bozeman to Banaras. Boston, MA:
Beacon Press.
Hurtado, S., Milem, J. F., Clayton-Pederson, A. R., & Allen, W. R. (1998). Enhancing campus
climates for racial/ethnic diversity: Educational policy and practice. The Review of
Higher Education, 21(3), 279-302.
Pettigrew, T. F., & Tropp, L. R. (2006). A meta-analytic test of intergroup contact theory.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90(5), 751-783.