‘To take up your own responsibility’: the religiosity of Buddhist adolescents in Hong Kong

This paper is the report of a study that uses qualitative methods to examine the religiosity of Hong Kong Buddhist adolescents. Twenty‐two Buddhist adolescents aged from 13 to 17 studying in Buddhist secondary schools took part in semi‐structured interviews. The interviews were voice‐recorded and transcribed verbatim, first into Chinese and then partly into English for quotations. Content analysis was carried out to delineate the religiosity of the Buddhist adolescents: (1) the sources and resources of religiosity, (2) religious beliefs, (3) religious practices, (4) positive consequences of religiosity, and (5) predictions on the future development of religiosity. The results show that the religiosity of Buddhist adolescents in Hong Kong exhibits some special features that distinguish it from the more common understanding of religiosity in the West.