The Effect of the Subconscious on the Formation of Religious Identity (With an Emphasis on the Quran and Hadith)

Much of our behavior derives from various types of motivation. Subconscious motivation is an internal factor that underlies some of human behavior. The present study aims to investigate how the subconscious internalization of behavior can affect a person’s ideological orientation. From a theological perspective, in the first step, the researchers study environmental interactions and their effect on the formation of the subconscious. Then, the effects of the family, as the most basic environment affecting the subconscious, reference groups, and the mass media are taken into consideration. In the second step, the researchers address identity development by emphasizing three pivotal forms of identity – familial, gender, and ideological – as deriving from the subconscious. Then, in pursuance of the first two steps, examples of ideological approaches are given from the Quran. Finally, the researchers propose strategies for controlling the healthy identity formation of children.