In the previous section, the researcher identifies the four stages of the usual communication repeatedly occurring in a chronological order among group members of the Catholic Student Beta organization. Now, in this section, the researcher further explains the meaning and why it is important for the group members to consistently communicate and exchange group identity. In this regard, the researcher organizes the contents of this section according to the same structure of the previous section, Findings. Therefore, this section is divided into the four sub categories again as below:
Stage 1: exhibition of religious belief as individual
Stage 2: exhibition of religious belief as group
Stage 3: exhibition of self-esteem as individual …show more content…
During this Jesus’ Supper, members engage in conversations with one another. Sometimes, religion-based jokes and kidding are often exchanged, thereby bolstering the mutual belief in each of the members. In the conversation example of the previous section, Member 1 and Member 2 exchange religion-based jokes, i.e., about the “presence of Jesus.” Here, the “presence of God” indicates the sense the Catholics actually feels—the sense of God being always there in their daily lives, or the belief in the existence of God even though He is invisible to human eye. Therefore, in such a form of joking or kidding, the belief in the existence of God is exchanged and shared among the members in a lighter and more refreshing way, thereby reconfirming that they are together with each other as believers. In this way, exchanging religion-based jokes helps bolster the mutual group identity as “the one” in a very natural …show more content…
To examine the group identity and individual well-being communicated through religion, the researcher chooses to study a Catholic Student organization at Alpha University in the southern United States. By using Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) and other concepts related to religion and individual well-being, the researcher maintains that a religious organization promotes stronger group identity, which can eventually contribute to individuals’ psychological well-being. In this regard, the researcher adopts a method of analyzing the religious speech community through a “thick, rich description” (Geertz, 2001, p. 312). After collecting data through participant observation, the researcher finds that group identity is communicated in a religious organization, not only strengthening the bonds among the members but also bolstering self-identities of individual members in a positive way. Particularly, the researcher identifies four stages of usual communication patterns repeatedly occurring at the Beta Center house. In the Discussion section, these four stages are interpreted by the researcher in depth, especially in terms of the local informants’ perspective and their God-based