Muslim American adolescents’ social networks and character virtue development

The Sufi scholar al-Muhasibi relates that friendships should remind people of God and increasing their good works. Adolescent adherence to religious values is consistent with positive youth development, more generally, and virtue development, in particular. Many Muslim teens strive to practice Islam despite contending with bullying, discrimination and outsider dynamics in school. Although efforts have been invested in examining the role of religion in positive youth development, little is known about how youth from underrepresented religious groups, particularly Muslims living in the United States, engage with and develop virtues. Furthermore, virtually nothing is known about how social relationships and interventions that may enhance religious engagement, foster virtue development and build character strengths. The main objective of this program of research is to integrate ideas from virtue development, social network analysis and intervention science to examine the role of an identity-boosting after-school youth program. We suggest that participation in the program triggers a cascade of downstream effects that increase participants’ feelings of belonging and social connections, strengthen friendship networks, and increase students’ experiences of generosity during the tournament. One novel aspect of this research is the role of adolescent social networks in the spread of character virtues (i.e., virtue contagion).