Searching for Uncommon Worldviews: ‘Idiosyncratic’ and ‘Divided’ Outlooks in a Global Sample of Young Adults

In this chapter, we explore uncommon worldviews, meaning that we take a closer look at outlier respondents in a larger international sample from 12 countries. These outliers are the ones whose personal outlooks did not match any of the major worldview types found in the national case studies. First, we identify shared patterns amongst these respondents. Second, we place these outlier outlook types on a broader worldview map. Juxtaposing the outlier outlooks with the results from other case studies allows us to identify idiosyncratic worldviews. Certain outlooks would not stand out in analyses of single case studies, but bringing them together in a cross-cultural comparison enables us to see patterns shared by individuals across different national contexts. This also reveals better such worldviews that incorporate those elements, which normally are distributed amongst opposing viewpoints. The emergence of these outlook types can support the development of a nuanced theory of religious subjectivities.