Sociology of Religion Commons^™

Wounded Collective Identity In Europe: Trauma, Religiosity, Modernization, And Visions Of The Future Based On Empirical Studies Of Thirty-Eight European Countries, Emese Berzsenyi

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The study presents a joint research project by five authors: László Tamás, András Máté-Tóth, Miklós Gyorgyovich, Bernadett Balassa, and Dávid Kollár. It offers the first international comparative empirical application of the theory of Wounded Collective Identity (WCI), developed by the second author, Professor András Máté-Tóth, based on data from thirty-eight European countries. The theoretical framework of the study is grounded in Máté-Tóth’s theory of wounded identity, which conceptualizes the geo-cultural and geopolitical in-between position of the Central and Eastern European region as a decisive factor shaping collective self-interpretation.

Impact Of Childhood Trauma On Perceptions Of Health: Examining The Role Of Religiosity As A Protective Factor Among Black And African American Adults, Patrice Penrose

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

Purpose: Childhood trauma has detrimental immediate and lifelong impacts on health. Black and African Americans experience higher rates of potentially traumatic events (PTEs) than the general population. Religiosity, a common coping mechanism for many who experience trauma, could serve to moderate the impacts. This study examines whether the importance of religion buffers against the impact of childhood exposure to PTEs on adult perceptions of health and assesses whether social support and/or coping mediate the relationship between religiosity and perceived health.

Method: This study analyzed data from 2,537 Black and African American participants in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to …

Dynamics Of Changes Of Religiosity In Condition Of Crisis Events (Based On The Example Of The Russian-Ukrainian War), Yurii Boreiko, Fedotova Tetiana

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes changes in the religiosity of Ukrainians during the Russian-Ukrainian war as a large-scale event. It explores the nature of the connection between the traumatic experience of war and religiosity and determines the trajectory of changes in the religiosity of Ukrainians during the war. It has been established that the Russian-Ukrainian war caused social upheavals accompanied by crises in various spheres of public life. As a large-scale tragic event, the war became a catalyst for changes in self-assessment of faith in God and participation in religious practices. The level of religiosity of Ukrainians during the war was significantly …

Belief, Religious Practice, And Religious Self-Description: A Comparative Analysis Of World Values Survey Wave 7 Data From Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, And Uzbekistan, Margulan Alpysbay, Dinara Utebayeva, Asset Kuranbek

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Although religiosity may appear straightforward to measure empirically, no single survey item captures it fully. This limitation is particularly evident in societies where belief in God is widespread: belief may not correspond to religious attendance, prayer frequency, or self- description as a religious person. Treating these differences as merely methodological would obscure important variation in how religiosity is expressed. A comparison of five empirical indicators of religiosity in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. It examines how belief in God, the importance of God in life, religious attendance, prayer frequency, and religious self-description converge or diverge. The analysis uses World Values Survey …

Scrupulosity Ocd And How It Can Affect Our Clients’ Relationship With God, Annabella Hagen

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

This article explores various aspects of scrupulosity OCD, starting with the misconceptions about OCD that persist in society and their impact on treatment, along with a discussion of the disorder’s prevalence. It examines common OCD themes, provides a deeper understanding of religious scrupulosity, and clarifies how individuals become trapped in the scrupulosity OCD cycle. Specific triggers within the LDS Church are highlighted, alongside religious considerations such as distinguishing scrupulosity from genuine religiosity and discerning between spiritual promptings and OCD-driven thoughts. The article also addresses barriers to care unique to the LDS community and offers clinician recommendations, including an overview of …

Old Victims, New Oppressors? Considering Postcolonial Social Conservatism Without Christianity In Central And Eastern Europe, Michal Opatrný

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A significant part of societies in the states of Central and Eastern Europe openly reject the interconnection of Europe with the geopolitical, social and environmental problems of Africa, the Middle East, etc. Social conservativism without Christian belief is characteristic of this situation. Nevertheless, the churches and especially the representatives of the Catholic Church, often openly support these rejecting attitudes, i.e., by rejecting refugees, for example.

In the 20^th century, the Soviet Union and its internal supremacy of Russian nationalism heavily influenced this area. The postcolonial theory, together with the anti-oppressive theory, seems realistic to apply to this situation. In …

The Impact Of Religiosity On Political Knowledge Among Youth Voters, Norah Sackett

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As political engagement trends among young voters have continued to shift in the United States' political atmosphere, understanding the cognitive factors that influence these decisions is becoming increasingly important. Political efficacy, or the feeling that individual political action can impact the political process, impacting their civic duties, has long been regarded as a key determinant of an individual's political engagement. This study investigates how young voters' understanding of prominent political arguments relates to their sense of political efficacy, with a specific lens on individual religiosity.

Through an examination of this relationship between religiosity and overall comprehension of political arguments, this …

The Relationship Between Religious Coping Styles And Eating Disorder Risk In Christians In A University Setting, Meghan E. Aubuchon

Honors Theses

Existing research on eating disorders and religion is beginning to gain momentum in the present day, but research is lacking on the topic of religious coping and eating disorder risk. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between two known styles of religious coping—positive and negative—and eating disorder risk in University of Mississippi students, faculty, and staff who identify as Christian. A survey consisting of basic demographic questions, the EAT-26, and the Brief RCOPE was distributed via emails sent by the office of IREP to students, faculty, and staff at the University of Mississippi. A total of 330 participants were …

Religious Discrimination Against Minorities: Theories And Findings, Yasemin Akbaba

Political Science Faculty Publications

One of the established trends in religion and international relations (IR) scholarship is the awareness of a rising level of religious discrimination against minorities. Although there is variation in rates, religious restrictions are widely observed across the globe, including in Western democracies. Scholarship on the restrictions on religious practices has advanced through seeking answers to the following questions: Who discriminates? Who is discriminated against more? What are the causes of restrictions on religious freedom? What are the forms of discrimination? The purpose of this article is to connect the theories and findings of two religious discrimination studies of IR via …

The Relationship Between Religion, Substance Misuse, And Mental Health Among Black Youth, Dexter R. Voisin

Faculty Scholarship

Studies suggest that religion is a protective factor for substance misuse and mental health concerns among Black/African American youth despite reported declines in their religious involvement. However, few studies have investigated the associations among religion, substance misuse, and mental health among Black youth. Informed by Critical Race Theory, we evaluated the correlations between gender, depression, substance misuse, and unprotected sex on mental health. Using multiple linear regression, we assessed self-reported measures of drug use and sex, condom use, belief in God, and religiosity on mental health among a sample of Black youth (N = 638) living in a large midwestern …

The Implications Of Religion And Internal Motivations On Health Behaviors, Sarah Jamaleddine

Honors Undergraduate Theses

It is considered that religion and internal motivations may act as guiding forces behind the thoughts and actions of individuals. The purpose of this thesis is to explore if religiousness and internal motivations may influence individual health behaviors. To explore these relationships, a convenience sample using a 5-minute Qualtrics survey with questions regarding religiousness, internal motivations, and health behaviors was developed. This survey was offered to UCF students over the course of a few semesters. It is hypothesized that individuals that indicate more religiousness and stronger internal motivations (greater internal locus of control and self-efficacy) will demonstrate more positive health …

Beyond Religiosity: Examining The Relative Effects Of Religiosity And Religious Ideation On Climate Skepticism (A Research Note), Kristin Haltinner, Dilshani Sarathchandra

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Much of the existing scholarship on climate change uses religiosity to measure the effects of religion on climate skepticism and results in inconsistent findings. Drawing on insights from the study of religion and environmentalism more broadly, we suggest that scholars should seek a deeper understanding of religion’s impacts by considering the influence of specific religious beliefs on perceptions of climate change. We further contend that researchers should consider how these factors shape attitudes within and between segments of the public who hold varying positions on climate change. We test these contentions using a novel sample of 1,000 self-declared “climate skeptics” …

An Exploratory Study Of The Relationship Between Religiosity And Internalized Heterosexism In Same-Sex Attracted Individuals, Lauren Knight

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This correlational study was designed to evaluate the relationship between religiosity and internalized heterosexism among lesbian, bisexual, and gay (LGB) individuals. Religiosity was examined in terms of positive religious coping (PRC), redefining stressors as a positive spiritual opportunity, or negative religious coping (NRC), defining stressors as a negative struggle between the individual and a Higher Power. The researcher hypothesized that, as seen in previous studies, use of negative religious coping methods would correlate with internalized heterosexism, and that use of positive religious coping methods would significantly correlate with lower internalized heterosexism. Data analysis of participants (N=162) illustrated significant Pearson’s product-moment …

Childhood Abuse, Religiosity, And Opioid Use: Findings From The National Epidemiologic Survey On Alcohol And Related Conditions Data, James E. Lewis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Religiosity is adopting a belief system surrounding concepts of purpose, meaning, and value through an institution that has already defined these concepts prior to the individual member attending and that member’s degree of participation. Religiosity does have protective factors against negative health outcomes. This protective influence was evaluated in this study. Data from Wave 2 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions were examined to learn about the relationship between protective effects of religious participation on substance abuse, and whether this association weakened for individuals who have experienced higher levels of childhood abuse. A binary logistic regression …

Peer Victimization And Illicit Drug Use Among African American Adolescents In Chicago: The Moderating Effects Of Religious Affiliation, Dexter R. Voisin

Faculty Scholarship

Objective: Investigators have examined the moderating effects of young people’s relationships with parents, teachers, and peers on victimization and on adverse outcomes such as drug use. However, the moderating influence of religious affiliation on the association between peer victimization and illicit drug use, the focus of this paper, has seldom been examined. Method: Participants were 638 low-income African American youth ages 12–22 (mean age = 15.8; 54% female and 46% male) in Chicago, IL. We conducted hierarchical logistic regression analyses to examine the moderating effect of religious affiliation on the relationship between peer victimization and illicit drug use. Results: Youths …

Problematic Sexual Behavior And Religion Among Adult Jewish Males: An Initial Study, David H. Rosmarin, Steven Pirutinsky

Graduate School of Social Work Publications and Research

A growing body of research has tied religion to problematic sexual behavior in both positive and negative ways. On the one hand, religious belief and engagement buffer against incidence and severity of problematic sexual behavior, but on the other hand religiously affiliated individuals who engage in such behavior tend to experience spiritual struggles (negative religious coping) and poor psychosocial outcomes. No published empirical studies have examined these variables among adult Jewish males. In the present study, 94 adult Jewish males completed measures of religious belief/ practice, positive religious coping, spiritual struggles, and problematic sexual behavior. General and positive aspects of …

The Pornography Debate: Religiosity And Support For Censorship, Brian A. Droubay, Robert P. Butters, Kevin Shafer

Faculty Publications

Pornography has become an increasingly salient topic in public discourse. We sought to better understand the role of religiosity in shaping people’s support of policy stances against pornography, in the form of censorship, using nationally representative data from the 2014 General Social Survey (n = 1676). Results from logistic regression indicate that high religiosity significantly increases odds of supporting censorship. Holding control variables at their sample means, the least religious persons had a predicted probability of 0.09 of supporting censorship, compared to 0.57 for the most religious respondents. We discuss these findings within the context of the current public …

A Critical Interpretation Of Olivier Roy: On Globalization, The Cosmopolitan And Emerging Post-Secular Religiosities, Joshua Rey Ramos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My thesis is that secularization transforms religion into religiosity. In other words, the secular breaks apart religion, or rather, 'deculturates' religion from a cohesive, collective body embedded within a particular society and within a traditional culture towards an individuated, and existential experience of faith within the autonomous religious subject. There are various reasons for this shift, as there are various consequences. Globalization, which is modernization writ large, is the dominant paradigm through which I conceptualize these changes. The theorist whose work I use as a lens to interpret secularization, religion and societal transformation is Olivier Roy. Roy's theories are of …

Religiosity And Depression In College Students By Year In School, Ciara Saylor

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The purpose of this research is to identify and analyze if there is a relationship between levels of religiosity and levels of depression in college students. This study particularly looks at how this link changes depending on students' year in school. The study in this paper was conducted by surveying 100 college students on their levels of religious attendance, importance of prayer, importance of religious communities, and their feelings towards religious news and events. The study also employed the Zung depression scale to survey the student's mental health and levels of depression. This research can be used to identify what …

The Relationship Between Religiosity And Depression Among Sampled Kenyans In The Twin Cities Metro Area, Dorcas Waite

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to assess whether there is a relationship between the self-reported level of religiosity and the self-reported level of depression among sampled Kenyans in the Twin Cities Metro Area, in Minnesota. The sample consisted of 63 individuals who were members or visitors at Destiny Faith Ministries and United Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

Results showed that 98.4% (n=60) of participants identified themselves with a specific religion, 90.4% (n=57) scored 40 and above on the religiosity scale, which indicated strong religiosity. Majority of participants (66.8%, n=42) indicated that they had been bothered for several days by at least …

Relationship Of Religiosity And Spirituality To Hazardous Drinking, Drug Use, And Depression Among Sexual Minority Women, Laurie Drabble, Cindy Veldhuis, Barth Riley, Sharon Rostosky, Tonda Hughes

Faculty Publications

Using data from Wave 3 of the Chicago Health and Life Experiences of Women (CHLEW) study (N = 699), we explored whether religiosity and spirituality were associated with risk of hazardous drinking, drug use, and depression among sexual minority women (SMW; i.e., lesbian, bisexual) and possible differences by race/ethnicity. Participants were more likely to endorse spirituality than religiosity, and endorsement of each was highest among African American SMW. We found no protective effect of religiosity or spirituality for hazardous drinking or drug use. An association initially found between identifying as very spiritual and past-year depression disappeared when controlling for help-seeking. …

A Bounded Affinity Theory Of Religion And The Paranormal, Joseph O. Baker, Christoper Bader, F. Carson Mencken

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

We outline a theory of bounded affinity between religious experiences and beliefs and paranormalism, which emphasizes that religious and paranormal experiences and beliefs share inherent physiological, psychological, and ontological similarities. Despite these parallels, organized religious groups typically delineate a narrow subset of experiences and explanatory frames as acceptable and True, banishing others as either false or demonic. Accordingly, the theory provides a revised definition of the “paranormal” as beliefs and experiences explicitly rejected by science and organized religions. To demonstrate the utility of the theory, we show that, after controlling for levels of conventional religious practice, there is a strong, …

Secular But Not Superficial : An Overlooked Nonreligious/Nonspiritual Identity., Daniel G. Delaney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since Durkheim’s characterization of the sacred and profane as “antagonistic rivals,” the strict dichotomy has been framed in such a way that “being religious” evokes images of a life filled with profound meaning and value, while “being secular” evokes images of a meaningless, self-centered, superficial life, often characterized by materialistic consumerism and the cold, heartless environment of corporate greed. Consequently, to identify as “neither religious nor spiritual” runs the risk of being stigmatized as superficial, untrustworthy, and immoral. Conflicts and confusions encountered in the process of negotiating a nonreligious/nonspiritual identity, caused by the ambiguous nature of religious language, were explored …

Religiosity And Social Problems Among Muslim Adolescents In Southern Thailand, Suhaimee Sateemae, Tarik Abdel-Monem, Mahsoom Sateemae

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Substantial commentary has been written about the historical context of the Malay-Muslim minority in the deep south of Thailand. Much of the recent scholarship on the Malay-Muslim minority of Thailand has focused on the ongoing ethnic insurgency in southern Thailand, the region’s troubled history of annexation, and its relevance to Thailand’s political landscape. However, there is little empirical research on the Malay-Muslim population itself, although it is assumed that expressions of their religious identity are a fundamental aspect of collective identity formation. In an effort to fill this gap, this study explored perceptions of religiosity and risk behavior among Muslim …

The Changing Of The Gods: Religion, Religious Transformation And The Indian Immigrant Experience, Thomas W. Segady, Swait Shirwadkar

Faculty Publications

The Durkheimian notion that there is a close correspondence between the type of religion within a society and the structure of the society itself is now taken to be nearly axiomatic. As societies become increasingly dynamic and fragmented, however, the nexus between religion and society becomes far more complex. With globalization and widespread movements of populations struggling to maintain their identities within the contexts of both the old and new societies, changes of religion—including religious affiliation and religiosity—are inevitable. Cultural and social aspects of these changes are explored with reference to Indians migrating to the United States.

Parenting Style, Religiosity, Peers, And Adolescent Heavy Drinking, Stephen J. Bahr, John P. Hoffmann

Faculty Publications

Objective: The purpose of this research was to examine whether authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, and neglectful parenting styles were associated with adolescent alcohol use and heavy drinking, after controlling for peer use, religiosity, and other relevant variables. Method: Structural equation modeling was used to estimate direct and indirect associations of parenting style with alcohol use and heavy drinking among 4,983 adolescents in Grades 7-12. Results: Adolescents whose parents were authoritative were less likely to drink heavily than adolescents forms he other three parenting styles, and they were less likely to have close friends who used alcohol. In addition, religiosity was negatively …

Religion And Academic Achievement Among Adolescents, Benjamin Mckune, John P. Hoffmann

Faculty Publications

In this article, we examine the association between religiosity and academic achievement among adolescents. Recent research demonstrates a positive association between religiosity and academic success. However, some studies show that this association is due to family and community factors; for example, variation in levels of family capital among religious affiliates could explain it. Yet whether religious factors affect academic achievement among adolescents might also be due to the concordance or discordance of religiosity between parents and their children. Using data for two years from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we examine the associationbetween adolescents‘ religiosity, parents‘ religiosity, and …