Utilizing data collected from high school sophomores in 1972 and 1973, the study investigated the religious behavior and orientations of rural Black, White, and Mexican American youth in reference to religious affiliation, church participation, religious self-image (perceptions by peers), religious identification as an impediment to social attainment, importance of religion in selecting a future spouse, and parents' church participation. In addition, the extent to which socioeconomic status (SES) influenced any differences by ethnic identity were explored. The Chi Square test and the Corrected Coefficient of Contingency were used for data analyses. Findings included: Mexican Americans were mainly Roman Catholic, Blacks were predominantly Baptist, and White youth had a greater diversity of church affiliation; Black girls had the highest rates of church participation while Mexican American boys had the lowest; Mexican Americans, particularly boys, were slightly more likely than others to consider religion important in selecting their future spouse; fathers attended church less frequent than mothers; generally, SES did not influence substantially either inter-ethnic variability of religious attributes or intra-ethnic patterns; Black youth more frequently viewed religion as an impediment than White youth (no information existed on Mexican American youth for this variable); almost all of the youth gave a religious affiliation. (NQ)