The Childhood Roots of Our Adult Communities

Have you ever wondered why some people grow up to be joiners (the ones who show up to book clubs, volunteer groups, and sports leagues) while others stay on the sidelines? This study asked a simple but big question: what happens in childhood that makes someone more likely to participate in community groups as an adult? Researchers looked at data from over 200,000 adults across 22 countries, asking people to reflect on their childhood experiences and report how often they currently participate in community groups, both religious and non-religious.

For some who felt like outsiders in childhood, joining a group as an adult can be a powerful act of finding connection.

The findings were surprising. The single strongest childhood factor tied to adult community participation, whether religious or secular, was attending religious services as a child. People who attended services weekly growing up were 1. 54 times more likely to join secular community groups as adults, and 3.

19 times more likely to keep attending religious services themselves. This pattern held across many countries, and was actually strongest in some of the most secular places in the world, like Sweden, Japan, and Germany. Other childhood experiences mattered too. Growing up in a family that lived comfortably financially was tied to more secular community participation later. Interestingly, people who experienced childhood abuse or felt like outsiders in their families were also more likely to join secular groups as adults: perhaps seeking connection, healing, or a way to give back.

The study also found that younger generations tended to participate less in secular groups than older ones, and that men were more likely than women to join secular communities, though this varied by country. The big takeaway? The roots of community life often reach back to childhood, and the experiences that shape whether we show up for each other as adults are more complex, and sometimes more surprising, than we might expect.