RELIGIOUS ATTITUDES Differences in personality variables and religious and non-religious attitudes between people with different degrees of religiousness Persons with same faith may differ, for example: religious knowledge, how they pray, attitudes in respect to religious and other norms, rites, emotional responses to religious eventes etc. Religious Attitudes 1
Point of view of differential psychology and personality Instruments: Questionnaires Overview: Hill, P.C. & Hood, R.W. (1999) Measures of religiosity. Religious Education Press basic in all recent approaches: dimensional structure of religiousness Religious Attitudes 2
Main approaches: Logical Approach: Dimensions are defined on base of observations and theory questionnaire is constructed with these dimensions Factor-Analytic approach Basic dimensions identified within a set of variables with correlations: high correlations among variables within dimensions, low correlations between dimensions Religious Attitudes 3
Logical Approach: Allport & Ross (1967): intrinsic/extrinsic rel orientation Glock (1962), Stark & Glock (1968): five dimensions Religious Attitudes 4
Intrinsic extrinsic orientation Allport & Ross (1967): Religious Orientation Scale Allport observed seemingly contadiction in context of research on prejudices: religious people in comparison to nonreligious or lowreligious: more prejudices against minorities (ethnic,..) less such prejudices in people who often participate in church service Hypothesis: Intrinsic vs extrinsic churchgoers have different attitudes Religious Attitudes 5
Participants in religious services with - Extrinsic religious orientation mainly interested in social relations within rel group, in prestige, security and comfort relation to religion is utilitaristic, egoistic, superficial - Intrinsic religious orientation practice religion with inner conviction, for its own sake, obey commandement of charity deal with ideals and doctrine of christianity Religious Attitudes 6
Therefore, intrinsic religious people have less prejudices against minorities, whereas extrinsic ones adopt prejudices of society without critics Hypothesis confirmed in several studies (again: self-reported prejudices! Response bias?) Religious Attitudes 7
Revisions of original Allport-Ross Scales: e.g., Kirkpatrick (1989), Gorsuch et al. (1997). Distinctions within the Extrinsic scale: Extrinsic personal: personal benefit from religion (e.g., comfort in times of stress) Extrinsic social: social benefit like association with people (e.g., making new friends) Religious Attitudes 8
Glock: Five Dimensions of religiosity Sociologists Glock (1962), Stark & Glock (1968): five dimensions 1. Ideological dimension (dimension belief) 2. Ritual dimension 3. Dimension of religious experience 4. Dimension of religious knowledge 5. Dimension of secular consequences (non-religious) Religious Attitudes 9
1. Ideological dimension (dimension belief) Degree of acceptance of central statements of a religion examples of questions: I know that god exists and have no doubts Even if I have some doubts, I believe in god Sometimes I belive in god and sometimes not I do not believe in a personal god but I belive in a higher power I do not believe in god Nothing of the above reflects what I believe. What I think about god is:. Religious Attitudes 10
Do you think that charity is essential for salvation probably helps for salvation has probably no effect on salvation Religious Attitudes 11
2. Ritual dimension Intends to capture religious practices like frequencies of church going, personal prayer, saying grace, etc Religious Attitudes 12
3. Dimension of religious experience Interest is not on extraordinary experiences (conversion) but on less spectacular experiences. For example: Did you have as adult one of the following experiences (and how certain)? The feeling of god s presence? The feeling to be saved in Christ? The feeling to have been punished by god for something you have done? Religious Attitudes 13
4. Dimension of religious knowledge To what degree people can reproduce central statements of their religion. Is interpreted as an indicator for religious attachment. Examples: Can Christians state the ten commandements, can they find the prophets of the Old Testament on a list of names. Dimension does not measure the acceptance of specific beliefs. (Acceptance measured by Ideological dimension) Religious Attitudes 14
5. Dimension of secular consequences (non-religious) Was not operationalized by Glock - unclear, whether these aspects are components of religiosity or their consequences Ethical duties as consequences of religion Rewards like peace of mind, freedom from fear and sorrows Critique: Logical dimensions empirically not independent (e.g., Knowledge and Belief dimensions) Religious Attitudes 15
Many questionnaires (critically) based on Glock s work (for critical reviews, cf. e.g., Hill & Hood, 1999; S. Huber, 2003) Combination with factor-analytical approach (or other techniques of multidimensional measurement Consensus that religiosity is a multidimensional concept Religious Attitudes 16
Attitudes Behavior There seems to be no systematic research about relation attitudes behavior respective, behavior self reported behavior (would not be difficult at least in areas with observable behavior) Religious Attitudes 17
Aggregation principle: Attitudes self reported behavior Fishbein & Ajzen (1974): 100 self reports on religious behavior correlated with measured religious attitude scales (same subjects): correlation rel.attitudes separate self reports of rel. behaviors: median r =.14 correlation rel.attitudes sum of 100 self reports of relig. behaviors: r =.64 [ Rushton, Brainerd & Pressley (1983): aggregation principle in numerous areas of psychology ] Religious Attitudes 18
Research on religious attitudes: Gorsuch (1988). Psychology of religion. Annual Review of Psychology 39, 201-221 also: Spilka, Hood, Hunsberger & Gorsuch (2003 3 ) overview over results from many studies some results (more results in later chapters) Religious Attitudes 19
Religion and social behavior prejudice toward minorities is lower with intrinsic motivated religious people and with religious minorities Problems: often: correlation with self-reported prejudices, etc. Variation of attitudes in time: Are results from 1988 relevant today (2009)? What is with religious fundamentalists? Religious Attitudes 20
Pro-social behavior: religious people report more helpfulness towards others more religious people help others (because of institutionalized help programs of religious organizations) unclear: social desirability when answering questionaire? Religious Attitudes 21
As a recent example: RELIGIOUS MONITOR attempts to measure religiousness and religious attitudes international survey Religious Attitudes 22
http://www.religionsmonitor.com/ then you can choose language English, German, Spanish, Turkish ( not French! ) pdf-files with description and main results participation in questionaire personal profile (your personal result compared with the average of your country) Religious Attitudes 23
Download in French ( description and main results ) http://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/cps/rde/xbcr/sid- 0A000F0A- 7700FE77/bst/ReligionsMonitor_Europa_franz.pdf Religious Attitudes 24
Contents specific religious topics General intensity of core dimensions Pantheistic Theistic Religious reflexivity; religious quest; theodicy; spiritual + religious books Interest in religious matters Intellect Notion of God; world views; religious pluralism; religious fundamentalism; other religious ideas Belief in God or something divine Ideology (belief) Church service, communal prayer, temple visits, spiritual rituals Public Practice Obligatory prayers; family altar Meditation Prayer Private Practice Core Dimensions Religious feelings Experience of being at one Personal experience Experience Relevance of religion in eleven areas of life (i.e. partnership, work, sickness) General relevance of religion to everyday-life Consequences Religious and spiritual self-perception Religious Attitudes 25 Non-religious Religious Highly religious Centrality
2007 Representative survey 21 000 people from all continents in 18 countries from all larger religious traditions face to face or telephone (depending on country) Bertelsmann Stiftung (Ed.) (2008). What the World Believes: Analysis and Commentary on the Religion Monitor 2008. Gütersloh: Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung ( Stiftung = foundation ) Religious Attitudes 26
In progress: Internet survey problem of representativeness not only usual problems of internet-studies (e.g., access to computers, potential self-selection) but also: possibility of organized attacks of religious groups Religious Attitudes 27
about 100 questions examples: Religious Attitudes 28
Which of the following religious communities are you a member of? O Christianity O Judaism O Islam O Hinduism O Buddhism O another religious community O no religious community O don t know / n.a. Religious Attitudes 29
Has religion been part of your up-bringing? O yes O no O don t know / n.a. How often did the following events happen? How often did your mother go to religious services with you? never rarely occasionally often very often Don t know n.a. How often did your mother pray with you? How often did your mother speak about religious questions with you? Religious Attitudes 30
How often do you do the following? How often do you pray? never less often a few times a year one to three times a month once a week more than once a week once a day several times a day don t know n.a. How often do you meditate? How often do you do the following? never less often a few times a year one to three times a month once a week more than one a week don t know n. a. How often do you participate in spiritual rituals or religious acts? Religious Attitudes 31
How do you personally experience the following? never rarely occasionally often very often don t know n. a. How often do you think about religious issues? How often do you experience situations where you have the feeling that God or something divine wants to communicate or to reveal something to you? How often do you experience situations where you have the feeling that God or something divine intervenes in your life? How often do you experience situations in which you have the feeling that you are at one with all? How often do you think about suffering and injustice in this world? How often are you critical towards religious teachings you in principle agree with? How often do you rethink certain aspects of your religious views? How often do you read religious or spiritual books? Religious Attitudes 32
All in all, how religious would you consider yourself to be? O not at all religious O not very reiligous O moderately religious O quite religious O very religious O don t know / n.a. Putting aside whether or not you would describe yourself as a religious person, how spiritual would you say you are? O not at all spiritual O not very spiritual O moderately spiritual O quite spiritual O very spiritual O don t know / n.a. Religious Attitudes 33
Now there will be some questions about the importance of several aspects of religiousness. not at all not very much moderately quite a bit very much so don t know n. a. How interested are you in learning more about religious issues? How important is personal prayer for you? How important is meditation to you? To what extent do you believe in God or something divine? How important is it to you to participate in spiritual rituals or religious acts? To what extent do you believe in an afterlife? - e.g. immortality of the soul, resurrection of the dead or reincarnation? To what extent do you adhere to religious commandments in your daily life? How important is it for you to consider religious issues from different perspectives? To what extent are you looking for something in your religious beliefs? To what extent do you believe in the efficacy of supernatural powers? Religious Attitudes 34
To what extent do you believe in astrology? To what extent do you believe in the efficacy of demons? To what extent do you believe in the efficacy of angels? not at all not very much moderately quite a bit very much so don t know n. a. Religious Attitudes 35
To what extent do your religious beliefs affect the following areas of your life? the upbringing of your children your relation with your partner your work, your occupation your free time your political opinion your attitude towards nature your attitude towards sexualtiy your coping with disease your questioning the meaning of life your coping with life crises your dealings with vital events in your family, like birth, marriage, or death not at all not very much moderately quite a bit very much don t know n. a. Religious Attitudes 36
How often do you experience the following in relation to God or something divine? awe guilt protection rage gratitude strength anxiety joy release from guilt never rarely occasionally often very often don t know n. a. love hope liberation from an evil power justice help desparation Religious Attitudes 37
To what extent do you agree with the following statements? I would like to live an extraordinary life I try to respect law and order in every circumstance I think that foreigners should adapt their lifestyle to that prevailing in their host country For me every religion has a core of truth I believe that one should have an open mind to all religions For myself I rely on teachings from several different religious traditions I believe that the end of the world is near Totally disagree Tend to disagree Have no definite opinion Tend to agree Totally agree Never bothered Don t know n. a. Religious Attitudes 38
The following statements are about conceptions of whether there is some higher reality beyond the world in which we live There is one God that wants to be our God There is a God who cares about every human being personally Life has only significance because there is a God Life has significance because there is something after death Life only has significance if you make it significant yourself Ultimately our life is determined by the laws of nature Life is just part of the natural evolution In my opinion life has little significance I believe there is something divine in myself Totally disagree Tend to disagree Have no definite opinion Tend to agree Totally agree Never bothered Don t know n. a. Religious Attitudes 39
To what extent do you agree with the following conceptions about God or the divine? God or the divine is like a law, which is valid throughout eternity God or the divine is like energy flowing through everything God or the divine is like a person you can speak to God or the divine is like a higher power God or the divine is like the greatest possible value God or the divine is nature Totally disagree Tend to disagree Have no definite opinion Tend to agree Totally agree Never bothered Don t know n. a. God or the divine is nothing more than a product of the human imagination with no reality in itself Religious Attitudes 40
Some few international results Religious Attitudes 41
Countries A Austria BR Brazil CH Switzerland D Germany F France GB Great Britain GCA Guatemala I Italy IL Israel IND India MA Marokko PL Poland RI Indonesia ROK South Korea RUS Russia T Thailand TR Turkey USA Religious Attitudes 42
Religions B Buddhism C Christianity H Hinduism I Islam J Judaism AR Other Religions OR Without Religion Religious Attitudes 43
Percentage of high religious and religious persons Religious Attitudes 44
Percentage of high religious and religious persons Religious Attitudes 45
Percentage of persons with high and medium intensity on ideological dimension Religious Attitudes 46
Percentage of persons with high and medium intensity on ideological dimension Religious Attitudes 47
Percentage of persons with high and medium intensity of public religious practice Religious Attitudes 48
Percentage of persons with high and medium intensity of public religious practice Religious Attitudes 49
Percentage of persons with high and medium intensity of prayer Religious Attitudes 50
Percentage of persons with high and medium intensity of religious experience of a personal god Religious Attitudes 51
Results of questionnaire studies will be reported in specific chapters Religious Attitudes 52