The Family–Faith Synergy Model: A Sociological Framework for Intergenerational Religious Socialization, Worldview Formation, and Youth Identity

This conceptual article develops the Family–Faith Synergy Model (FFSM), a sociological framework for explaining how family relationships and faith/worldview resources interact in intergenerational socialization and youth identity formation. The model addresses a recurring limitation in research that treats family processes and religious content as separate influences or casts young people as either passive recipients or autonomous choosers. The FFSM defines synergy as mutual conditioning: family relationships shape the credibility, emotional force, and interpretation of faith/worldview meanings, while those meanings organize family practices, expectations, and belonging. It specifies five mechanisms—relational embedding, symbolic exposure, practical participation, interpretive internalization, and reflexive negotiation—and six possible pathways: continuity, revision, selective combination, distancing, nonreligious worldview formation, and conflict. Drawing on foundational social theory and a focused narrative synthesis of research published through 2026, the article compares the FFSM with family religious-process approaches, transmission models, symbolic interactionism, social learning theory, and social identity theory. It also specifies bounded criteria for what counts as a worldview resource and proposes evidentiary and discriminant-validity requirements for distinguishing synergy from ordinary socialization. The framework is India-informed, context-sensitive, and designed for comparative empirical testing.