In recent years, researchers have paid special attention to religiosity and the practice of religious beliefs. If people put religiosity at the forefront of their affairs and maintain the roots of religion in various aspects of work and family life, they will see God present and watchful in doing all things, and the result of such a vision will be the successful performance of deeds and walking the path of perfection. Having a heartfelt belief in the value of (...) work and adhering to it will result in a greater desire to work. Religiosity is a variable that can be related to job variables. In addition, it can play an important role in the behaviours of employees. In Islam, work is a virtue and is necessary to balance the personal and social life of the individual. Given the importance of this issue, the present study aimed to evaluate the relationship between Islamic religiosity and job satisfaction of Muslim teachers in Malaysia. In total, 2200 Muslim teachers of Kuala Lumpur and Penang were selected for the study by simple random sampling. Data were collected by using standard questionnaires and analysed by Pearson's correlation coefficient in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). According to the results, there was a significant and positive relationship between teachers' Islamic religiosity and job satisfaction as P = 0.784 and T = 0.000 which was less than the Sig level of 0.05. CONTRIBUTION: According to Islamic teachings, working for a Muslim is like worship. Based on the findings of this research, teachers with higher Islamic religiosity enjoy higher job satisfaction. (shrink)

ABSTRACT:We examine whether religion influences company decisions related to corporate community involvement. Employing a large US sample, we show that the CCI initiatives of a company are positively associated with the level of Christian religiosity present in the region within which that company’s headquarters is located. This association persists even after we control for a wide range of firm characteristics and after we subject our results to several econometric tests. These results support our religious morality hypothesis which holds that (...) companies headquartered in regions with higher levels of Christian religiosity will engage in more CCI initiatives. We also find that while Catholic and mainline Protestant religiosity have a positive influence on firms’ CCI initiatives, evangelical Protestant religiosity does not. This supports our differentiated responses hypothesis which holds that institutional differences among religious groups will produce different effects on companies’ CCI. This hypothesis is based on institutional theory. (shrink)

Peer reporting is a specific form of whistelblowing in which an individual discloses the wrongdoing of a peer. Previous studies have examined situational variables thought to influence a person's decision to report the wrongdoing of a peer. The present study looked at peer reporting from the individual level. Five hypotheses were developed concerning the relationships between (1) religiosity and ethical ideology, (2) ethical ideology and ethical judgments about peer reporting, and (3) ethical judgments and intentions to report peer wrongdoing.Subjects (...) read a vignette concerning academic cheating, and were asked to respond to a question-naire concerning the vignette. Data were analyzed using structural equation methodology. (shrink)

Although there has been considerable theoretical support outlining a positive relationship between religiosity and voluntary simplicity, there is limited empirical evidence validating this relationship. This study examines the relationships among religious orientations :432–443, 1967) and voluntary simplicity in a sample of Australian consumers. The results demonstrate that intrinsic religiosity is positively related to voluntary simplicity; however, there is no relationship between extrinsic religiosity and voluntary simplicity. Furthermore, this research investigates the processes through which intrinsic religiosity affects (...) voluntary simplicity. The relationship between intrinsic religiosity and voluntary simplicity is sequentially mediated by communal/personal well-being and environmental well-being. The findings not only identify a prosocial role of intrinsic religiosity in motivating voluntary simplicity, but also indicate that secular pursuits that enhance communal/personal well-being and environmental well-being may also motivate voluntary simplicity. (shrink)

At least 177 scales are available to researchers who want to measure religiosity, but questions exist as to exactly what these scales are measuring and in whom they are measuring it. A review of these scales found a lack items designed to measure ethical action in society or the world as a prophetic response to the experience of the divine. Instead, the vast majority of scales focus on internal experiences and beliefs or institutional relationships. A review of scale norm (...) groups found that norm groups often are not fully described, particularly in the area of race/ethnicity, and when they are described, they reveal an over-reliance on convenience samples of college students and an under-representation of racial/ethnic minority groups. Examples of scales with more fully described and more representative norm groups are given, and recommendations are offered for researchers using and developing religiosity scales. (shrink)

In this paper, we examine the relationship between Christian religiosity, attitudes towards corporate social responsibility, and CSR behavior of executives. We distinguish four types of CSR attitudes and five types of CSR behavior. Based on empirical research conducted among 473 Dutch executives, we find that CSR attitudes mediate the influence of religiosity on CSR behavior. Intrinsic religiosity positively affects the ethical CSR attitude and negatively affects the financial CSR attitude, whereas extrinsic religiosity stimulates the philanthropic CSR (...) attitude. Financial, ethical, and philanthropic CSR attitudes significantly affect some types of CSR behaviors. However, because religiosity has opposing effects on the three attitudes, the joint mediation effect of the three attitudes is negligible. Furthermore, we find a direct negative influence of intrinsic religiosity on diversity and a direct positive influence on charity. (shrink)

This study examines whether religiosity is associated with the valuation multiples investors assign to fair-valued assets that are susceptible to managerial bias. Using a sample of U.S. banking firms, I find that the value relevance of such assets is higher for firms located in more religious counties than it is for firms located in less religious counties. Moreover, I find that this result is more consistent with the ethicality trait than the risk aversion trait of more religious individuals. Additional (...) tests show that the positive association between religiosity and value relevance of fair-valued assets is limited to firms with high fair value exposure, and it is stronger for firms with lower audit quality, lower institutional ownership, and lower analyst following. The results of this study suggest that investors perceive the role played by religiosity, in particular ethicality, in curbing managerial accounting biases and price accounting estimates accordingly. (shrink)

This article presents the results of an exploratory study that investigated the role that religiosity plays in determining consumer attitudes/beliefs in various situations regarding questionable consumer practices. Two dimensions of religiosity – intrinsic and extrinsic religiousness – were studied. Results indicated that an intrinsic religiousness was a significant determinant of consumer ethical beliefs, but extrinsic religiousness was not related to those beliefs.

Substantial literature has investigated the relationship between religiosity and ethical decision-making (the what), while lesser consideration has been given to exploring why decisions are made. As part of a larger study, this paper aims to delve beyond the descriptive relationship between religiosity and ethical decision-making of Muslim employees in Malaysia. We analyse the qualitative data received from 160 employees by using thematic analysis. Our results reveal that, while religious values are important for Muslims in Malaysia, there are other (...) factors that are also pertinent when making decisions at work, namely the organization’s interest and the context of the decision. We also found that individuals’ reasoning based on Islamic teachings is embedded in rules and regulations, which suggests lower levels of ethical reasoning. This study extends the current understanding of the processes of ethical reasoning in highly religious contexts by individuals at their workplace. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. (shrink)

The ethics literature has identified moral motivation as a factor in ethical decision-making. Furthermore, moral identity has been identified as a source of moral motivation. In the current study, we examine religiosity as an antecedent to moral identity and examine the mediating role of self-control in this relationship. We find that intrinsic and extrinsic dimensions of religiosity have different direct and indirect effects on the internalization and symbolization dimensions of moral identity. Specifically, intrinsic religiosity plays a role (...) in counterbalancing the negative impact of extrinsic religiosity on the internalization of moral identity. Further, intrinsic religiosity also counterbalances the negative and indirect impact of extrinsic religiosity on symbolization of moral identity via self-control. Lastly, self-control does not play a mediating role in the impact of religiosity on the internalization dimension of moral identity. We conclude that this study presents important findings that advance our understanding of the antecedents of moral identity, and that these results may have implications for the understanding of ethical decision-making. (shrink)

At least 177 scales are available to researchers who want to measure religiosity, but questions exist as to exactly what these scales are measuring and in whom they are measuring it. A review of these scales found a lack items designed to measure ethical action in society or the world as a prophetic response to the experience of the divine. Instead, the vast majority of scales focus on internal experiences and beliefs or institutional relationships. A review of scale norm (...) groups found that norm groups often are not fully described, particularly in the area of race/ethnicity, and when they are described, they reveal an over-reliance on convenience samples of college students and an under-representation of racial/ethnic minority groups. Examples of scales with more fully described and more representative norm groups are given, and recommendations are offered for researchers using and developing religiosity scales. (shrink)

We extend the literature by providing evidence that a cultural variable, intrinsic Islamic religiosity is important in understanding auditors’ judgement in the Islamic context of Pakistan. The intrinsic Islamic religiosity theoretical construct examined is Islamic Worldview which represents deeply held enduring and stable values which are likely to be dominant in influencing professionals’ judgements. Moreover, theoretical underpinning and empirical evidence in social psychology and organisational behaviour have established the critical role of intrinsic religiosity in influencing behaviour. Our (...) first objective is to examine whether IW impacts auditors’ judgements in the context of their acceptance of uncorroborated low-reliability client-provided evidence. Understanding the potential impact of cultural factors on auditors’ acceptance of client-provided information is an essential factor in improving audit quality. Our findings support the hypothesis that auditors with high IW scores are more likely to accept uncorroborated low-reliability client-provided evidence. Our second objective is to examine the relationship between IW and auditors’ preference for exercising more or less judgements. Examining this topic is important because auditing is a judgement-based process: auditors’ judgements determine audit quality and, by extension, the quality of associated financial reports. Our findings provide overall support for the hypothesis that auditors with high IW scores have a preference for exercising more judgement. Our findings have implications for global and national standard setters, regulators, practitioners, and researchers. The results are also relevant to global audit firms and their affiliates, particularly networks operating in Islamic countries, in ensuring global consistency of audits. (shrink)

Pilgrimage is an ancient form of religious expression, inherent in almost every confession. Modern pilgrimage differs from past pilgrim travels in various attributes. Pilgrimages contribute to the tourism development because they affect interreligious and international communication. In the first place, significance and topicality of the subject is explained, and basic concepts are defined. After that, a theoretical and methodological framework has been provided. Research relays to religious and ethical?mixed? pilgrimages and also includes Orthodox chancels: St. Petka?s chapel in Kalemegdan and (...) Madonna of Djunis monastery and catholic chancel Madonna of Tekije near Petrovaradin. These places are visited regardless of the visitor's faith. In depth interviews were conducted in 2007 in Belgrade, and the sample consisted of 25 Orthodox and 25 Catholic interviewees. We were monitoring religiosity of pilgrims through time by using three categories: upbringing, conversion, and self-assessment of religiosity. Regarding the category of upbringing, three groups were identified: those with a traditional religious formation, an irreligious formation, and those from devotional families. According to the self-assessement of religiosity, the following typology was formed: assured and practical believer, missionary, and traditionalist. We noticed three straight lines in believers? religious life: progression, stagnation and regression. The results of this exploration confirm that family influence on examinees? religiosity is strong, but the key category for progression in their religious lives is conversion understood as a dynamic category. (shrink)

Despite global warming and climate change remaining top environmental issues, many people do not prioritize the environment. However, religious and spiritual beliefs can influence pro-environmental behavior. Therefore, we focused on understanding how religiosity and spirituality among Christians, the non-religious, and atheists, influence ecologically conscious consumer behavior (ECCB) through environmental values (i.e. egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric) and issue involvement. Using Qualtrics, we recruited a US sample of Christians ( n = 362), the non-religious ( n = 132), and atheists ( (...) n = 84). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) analyses confirmed the hypothesized model. Overall, the findings suggest that religiosity is related to the environmental values of Christians and the non-religious. This relationship increased issue involvement and positively impacted participants’ ECCB. More importantly, irrespective of religious affiliation, perceived spiritual connection with nature promoted ECCB. (shrink)

The study assessed the role of childhood religiosity in adult religiosity and learning motivation in university participants. Participants were 338 university students (mean age = 20.42, SD = 1.53, 47% men) selected from Islamic (50%) and general universities (50%). The findings showed that participants from Islamic university compared to those from general universities scored higher on religious altruism among religiosity outcomes and on self-efficacy and active learning strategies among learning motivation outcomes. The hypothesized associations between childhood (...) class='Hi'>religiosity, religious altruism, religious practice, and specific learning motivation outcomes were significant. Childhood religiosity predicted two learning motivation outcomes, self-efficacy and active learning strategies, and only religious altruism in the presence of religious practice mediated these associations. In addition, university status moderated these mediated associations with stronger indirect effects for participants from Islamic universities compared to those from general universities. (shrink)

In this paper, we examine the relationship between various Christian denominations and attitude and behavior regarding consumption of socially responsible products. Literature on the relationship between religiosity and pro-social behavior has shown that religiosity strengthens positive attitudes towards pro-social behavior, but does not affect social behavior itself. This seems to contradict the theory of planned behavior that predicts that attitude fosters behavior. One would therefore expect that if religiosity encourages attitude towards SR products, it would also increase (...) the demand for them. We test this hypothesis for four affiliations on a sample of 997 Dutch consumers, using structural equation modeling. We find that Christian religiosity, indeed, increases positive attitude towards SR products, except for the Orthodox Protestant affiliation. In accordance with the theory of planned behavior, attitude is found to increase the demand for SR products. We find no evidence of hypocrisy for any of the Christian denominations. (shrink)

This article presents the results of a systematic literature review on religiosity and spirituality, particularly in the work context. We aimed to verify the state-of-the-art of scientific production related to these themes. To achieve the proposed objective, we identified 312 articles published in journals in the period between 1960 and 2018 using a rigourous method of analysis and sorting, which resulted in 52 appropriate studies. The analyses presented are based on the three bibliometric laws: those of Lotka, Bradford and (...) Zipf. This article brings contributions that encompass four approaches: measurement scales of spirituality and religiosity; behavioural benefits of religiosity in individuals; insertion of religiosity and spirituality in social service practice; and research directions. This research presents technical and managerial implications to provide theoretical support for the creation of programmes and/or practices of spirituality and religion in the workplace as an effective strategy, towards ethical attitudes. Also, this study contributes to the methodological achievement of SLRs in the field of religion in the workplace, highlighting an effective method for thematic mapping, and holistically identifying new research topics and directions, especially because of the several guidelines presented. (shrink)

Using an international sample of banks, we study how differences in religiosity across countries affect earnings management. Given that religiosity is a major source of morality and ethical behavior, it may reduce excessive risk taking and act as deterrence for earnings manipulations. Therefore, we predict lower earnings management in societies that have higher religiosity. Consistent with expectations, our cross-country analysis indicates that religiosity is negatively related to income-increasing earnings management for loss-avoidance and just-meeting-or-beating prior year’s earnings. (...) We also find that religiosity reduces income-increasing earnings management through abnormal loan loss provisions. In additional tests, we document that religiosity increases the information value of bank earnings, with both earnings persistence and cash flow predictability being enhanced by higher religiosity. For the crisis period analysis, our evidence shows that banks in countries with higher religiosity exhibit lower probability of reporting asset deterioration and lower probability of having poor performance. (shrink)

Prior research argues that religiosity increases the ethical behavior and levels of risk aversion of firm managers. To the extent that this is true, more religious countries might exhibit more stability in stock prices. This study tests this assertion by determining whether religiosity in countries is negatively associated with volatility in financial markets. Using a unique empirical design, we account for the possibility that the structure of financial markets is endogenously related to a country’s religiosity by examining (...) the volatility of American Depositary Receipts while conditioning on a number of home country variables capturing religiosity. We also control for the possibility of endogeneity bias by identifying an appropriate instrumental variable. Interestingly, our tests show that religious affiliation and, to a lesser extent, religious adherence and religious beliefs negatively affect the level of ADR volatility. (shrink)

_ Source: _Page Count 20 Research by Graham and Haidt suggests that beliefs, rituals, and other social aspects of religion establish moral communities. As such, they suggest religion is most strongly associated with the group-focused “binding” moral foundations of ingroup/loyalty, authority/respect, and purity/sanctity. Two studies tested this hypothesis, investigating the role of political orientation in these relationships. These studies supported our hypothesis that general religiosity is positively associated with each of the group-focused moral foundations, even when controlling for the (...) role of political orientation. Further, we find religious and political orientations interact such that low-religious political liberals are least likely to endorse group-focused moral intuitions. Results are discussed in a moral foundations framework and consider the role of religiosity’s association with political orientation and group-focused moral foundations. (shrink)

Based on prior studies which show that firms headquartered in high religiosity counties exhibit high level of business ethics, this study examines whether these firms are associated with low audit risk, and therefore low audit fees. In investigating this relationship, we draw a distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity of auditees. Using a sample of 25,872 U.S. observations from 2003 to 2012, we find that intrinsic religiosity of the auditees is associated with low audit fees after controlling (...) for auditee extrinsic religiosity, social capital, firm-specific characteristics, and county-specific characteristics. Furthermore, we find that external monitoring weakens the negative relationship between auditee intrinsic religiosity and audit fees. Finally, we conclude that the effect of auditor religiosity on audit fees is a regional effect that may affect the relationship between audit fees and auditee intrinsic religiosity. (shrink)

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) inclusion in advertising is important from a marketing ethics perspective and many brands have implemented marketing campaigns that feature LGBTQ-related themes. However, certain segments of society, such as some (but not all) religious consumers, are resistant to LGBTQ-themed advertisements. Does religiosity undermine or enhance support for brands that use these types of advertisements? This research aims to answer this question and reports the findings of two studies that examine the role of (...) class='Hi'>religiosity in relation to consumers’ responses to LGBTQ-themed advertising. The results show that, among the various religious orientations, intrinsic religiosity generally leads to negative attitudes for brands that use LGBTQ themes in advertisements. Feelings of disgust mediate these effects. However, not all forms of religiosity are detrimental to the efficacy of LGBTQ-themed advertising. Quest religiosity leads to positive attitudes for brands that use these types of advertisements. Furthermore, the negative impact of intrinsic religiosity on consumers’ responses to LGBTQ-themed advertising can be mitigated by portraying gay and lesbian individuals in inspiring roles in advertisements. Such ‘inspirational’ LGBTQ advertisements generate feelings of awe leading to positive brand attitudes among both intrinsic religiosity-oriented consumers and quest religiosity-oriented consumers. Hence, the findings provide managerial insights on how to develop LGBTQ-themed advertisements that promote inclusivity, are consistent with societal trends of greater acceptance of sexual orientation diversity, and concurrently appeal to both intrinsic religiosity-oriented consumers and quest religiosity-oriented consumers. (shrink)

We examine the role of religiosity on the financing activities in both Islamic and conventional banks in Indonesian provinces by using five different measures of religiosity: number of Islamic schools, hajj application, number of Islamic seminary schools, number of Mosques, and number of certified halal products. Based on regression analysis, the results show that both Islamic and conventional banks provide more financing in religious provinces. Religiosity also helps in reducing the volume of non-performing financing. Our the results (...) are still qualitatively valid after taking into account endogeneity issue that emanates from omitted variables (i.e., unobservable beliefs, ideas, and attitudes), and possible reverse causality between religiosity and the total amount of financing at the province level. (shrink)

Prior literature has demonstrated that religiosity is associated with a reduced acceptance of unethical business practices and financial reporting irregularities. On this premise, we examine whether religiosity, conceptualized as the degree of adherence to religious norms in the geographical area where a firm’s headquarters is located, has an impact on audit firms’ pricing decisions in the US. We measure the intensity of religiosity by the number of adherents relative to the total population in a county and demonstrate (...) that increased religious adherence operates as an institutionalized monitoring mechanism that decreases audit risk and audit costs, which is, in turn, reflected in reduced audit pricing. Additional tests suggest that the impact of religiosity on auditors’ pricing decisions is not differentiated by levels of auditor expertise but that audit fees are determined by an auditor’s relative location in a market sector and religious adherence. We conclude that religious adherence reduces the need for shareholders to bear the costs of monitoring agents, a finding which could be of importance for market participants and regulators. (shrink)

Many studies related to religious and sports issues have been carried out. However, there are limited studies, especially those related to religiosity, anxiety and life satisfaction. To cope with this situation, this study aims to: (1) assess the religiosity, anxiety and life satisfaction of athletes; (2) determine the role of gender and the type of sport in those constructs and (3) establish the correlations between the constructs. The study involved 244 elite athletes from Papua province of Indonesia, with (...) an average age of 22.2 years. The athletes were from a variety of sports, either individual or team sports. The religiosity, anxiety and life satisfaction were measured using Spirituality in Sports Test (SIST), Sport Anxiety Scale-2 (SAS-2) and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), respectively. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to assess the association between explanatory variables (gender and type of sport) and all those three constructs. Path analysis was used to determine the correlations between the constructs. This study’s data suggested that both gender and the type of sport are associated significantly with the level of anxiety and life satisfaction of athletes but not with athlete religiosity. There is a strong and direct effect of religiosity on anxiety and on the happiness in life (life satisfaction). The higher the level of religiosity of the athletes, the happier their life is perceived and the lower the level of the anxiety. In conclusion, this study reveals that individual sport athletes and female athletes tend to have higher levels of anxiety and lower life satisfaction. In addition, religiosity has a direct effect on anxiety and life satisfaction of the athletes. Therefore, religious values might need to be internalised during the training of athletes to reduce the anxiety during the competitions. Contribution: This study provides a new insight into the role of religiosity in anxiety and life satisfaction of athletes. This study also identifies the groups of athletes that are prone to have higher anxiety and therefore should be concerned and targeted. The findings of this study could be used as a complement strategy to increase the athletes’ happiness and to reduce the anxiety during the coaching and training processes in order to be able to achieve targeted results in a competition. (shrink)

Pilgrimage is an ancient form of religious expression, inherent in almost every confession. Modern pilgrimage differs from past pilgrim travels in various attributes. Pilgrimages contribute to the tourism development because they affect interreligious and international communication. In the first place, significance and topicality of the subject is explained, and basic concepts are defined. After that, a theoretical and methodological framework has been provided. Research relays to religious and ethical?mixed? pilgrimages and also includes Orthodox chancels: St. Petka?s chapel in Kalemegdan and (...) Madonna of Djunis monastery and catholic chancel Madonna of Tekije near Petrovaradin. These places are visited regardless of the visitor's faith. In depth interviews were conducted in 2007 in Belgrade, and the sample consisted of 25 Orthodox and 25 Catholic interviewees. We were monitoring religiosity of pilgrims through time by using three categories: upbringing, conversion, and self-assessment of religiosity. Regarding the category of upbringing, three groups were identified: those with a traditional religious formation, an irreligious formation, and those from devotional families. According to the self-assessement of religiosity, the following typology was formed: assured and practical believer, missionary, and traditionalist. We noticed three straight lines in believers? religious life: progression, stagnation and regression. The results of this exploration confirm that family influence on examinees? religiosity is strong, but the key category for progression in their religious lives is conversion understood as a dynamic category. (shrink)

The authors compare the levels of religiosity of the citizens of Russia and citizens of European countries. The level of religiosity in Russia suggests that the percentage of believers in the total population is in the middle of the list of European countries, but it is the country with the highest proportion of Muslims among its believers. In general, the research has shown that Russia remains a secular country and confessional-self identification is manifested rather as identification with a (...) particular cultural tradition than as a genuine expression of deep religiosity. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179049: Politike društvenog pamćenja i nacionalnog identiteta - regionalni i evropski aspekt]. (shrink)

The article reviews the book Religiöse Erfahrung zwischen Emotion und Kognition: William James’ Karl Girgensohns, Rudolf Otto und Carl Gustav Jungs Psychologie des religiösen Erlebens [Religious Experience between Emotion and Cognition: William James, Karl Girgensohns, Rudolf Otto and Carl Gustav Jung on the Psychology of Religious Experience], by Henryk Machoń.

Most literature on religious beliefs and disagreements among traditions focuses on a bit of mainstream assumptions: religions should be construed in substantive terms; religions are to be individuated by their core belief systems; adherents to a single tradition assent to the same belief system; religious beliefs have factual content; incompatible religious beliefs cannot be both true; and so on. In my work I question all these claims in order to defend a non kantian approach to deep pluralism. In the first (...) part I develop a narrative theory of doxastic practices. My fundamental intuition is that ambiguity, vagueness, and indeterminacy of meaning are non amendable features of any ordinary belief. Consequently, no proposition has a definite meaning, and there is no a priori reason to assume that if two believers assume the same belief, they both hold the same content. What I'm trying to do is to argue in support of a realist epistemology, without assuming a normative and rationalist stance. My evidential body is mainly drawn from psychology and psychoanalysis. In the second part I apply such a narrative theory to the study of the doxastic character of religions. I reject both functionalist and substantive approaches to religion, and I defend my own viewpoint which I label experentialism. After providing a characterization of religious beliefs, I refute how Alston, Ward and Hick account for the the doxastic features of religions. I then propose a definition of religious diversity which turns out to be alternative to the mainstream one. I work by empirical evidence from semiotics, sociology of religion and history of religions. In the third and conclusive part of my book, I give reasons against the mainstream approach to religious diversity, and I explain how my definition can be more appropriate to the sociological study of religious beliefs than the mainstream one. Finally, I provide an account of deep pluralism, I show that my approach to religious epistemology and religions is compatible with (and recommended by) deep pluralism, I differentiate kantian from non kantian pluralism, and I explain why non kantian deep pluralism resists the traditional objections to pluralism. Throughout the book I discuss relevant materials from Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. (shrink)

Within a German sample, the current cross-sectional questionnaire study conducts interreligious and interdenominational comparisons between Catholics, Protestants, free-church Protestants, Bahá’ís, Muslims, Spiritualists, i.e., religiously unaffiliated persons who label themselves as “spiritual,” and religious/spiritual “nones.” The comparisons refer to self-ratings of religiosity and spirituality, centrality of religiosity, as assessed by the Centrality of Religiosity Scale, and God concepts. The study is largely exploratory in nature, but also aims at identifying contexts of faith in which the term “spiritual” is (...) typically used as a self-description. The results show that only Spiritualists and free-church Protestants substantially label themselves as “spiritual.” However, they differ in many respects from each other, thus representing two distinct contexts of faith. The results further reveal a medium position of Catholics and Protestants in between the other subgroups, commonalities as well as specific differences between free-church Protestants, Bahá’ís, and Muslims, and some religious/spiritual approaches even within the “nones.”. (shrink)

Recalling the discussions with the religious scholar and friend Natalia Gavrilova, I decided to collect under one title three short and completely different texts - different in genre, time and purpose of writing. It seems to me that Natalia lived and thought precisely in connection with education-religiosity-sense. At least, the experience of our communication testifies to this version. We have repeatedly talked about the triple crisis - education, traditional religiosity and ultimate meanings. In memory of those conversations, I (...) want to say again about this crisis triad, and at the same time to offer possible Christian answers. (shrink)

ABSTRACTResearchers have suggested that religious individuals engage primarily in intuitive over analytic processing. We investigated a connection between specific aspects of religiosity and the attribution of causation to social and physical events. College undergraduates completed measures of religiosity online and were asked to determine the causes of events that varied in type, outcome, and likelihood, as well as the personality characteristics of the protagonist. Individuals with greater intrinsic religious orientation, fundamentalism, who viewed God as loving, who were more (...) dogmatic, and had an external locus of control were more likely to attribute supernatural phenomena to events compared to those lower in those traits. Supernatural causation was invoked more often when the character of the protagonist and the outcome of social event matched in valence than when they did not match. Individuals low and high in religiosity.. (shrink)

The present research investigates the relation between the religiosity dimensions which Wulff described and both moral attitudes and moral competence. The Post-Critical Belief scale was used as a measure of Wulff's religiosity dimensions, and the Moral Judgment Test was used to measure both moral attitudes and moral competence. Results from an adolescent sample , a student sample and a sample of adults affiliated to the Roman Catholic Church suggest, that, whereas the Literal vs. Symbolic dimension shows substantial relations (...) with moral attitudes and moral competence, the Exclusion vs. Inclusion of Transcendence dimension is unrelated to both of them. This suggests that there is no intrinsic relationship between religiosity and morality. However, results also suggest that religiously affiliated persons, in general, exhibit low moral competence. The content of the moral dilemmas that were presented cannot account for this. (shrink)

There have been remarkable evolutions in the Nigerian gospel music industry for the past decades. These revolutions have led to the emergence and survival of various modern and controversial musical cultures/traditions, modes and performances including worldliness and paganism in the industry. In view of these relatively nefarious musical cultures, a good number of scholars and observers tend to arguably redefine and brand Christian communication in general and Nigerian gospel music in particular. It is in following this premise that this paper (...) examines the phenomenon of religiosity and worldliness in the Nigerian gospel music industry. Based on observations and secondary data, the paper argues that the Nigerian gospel music industry is just a vivid reflection of the country’s gloomy socio-religious landscape, characterized by the emergence/prevalence of fake ministers and various ubiquitous instrumentalities that perpetrate spiritual bareness in the country. Aspects of religiosity observed in some Nigerian gospel songs include controversial rhythms, imitations/adaptations of worldly songs, lyrical emphasis on prosperity at the detriment of spirituality/salvation, gospel artists being associated with sex scandals and occult practices. (shrink)

Religion's historical mistrust of sexuality shapes people's behavior by inhibiting liberal sexuality. Still, it is unclear whether this inhibitive role also includes common, normative sexual behavior, particularly in secularized contexts. Moreover, the possible mediating effects emotions, affects, and thoughts have on the association between religiosity and restricted sexuality have never been integrated into a single model. Finally, cross-religious differences in common sexual behavior have still yet to be documented. We addressed these three issues in two studies, with samples of (...) Catholic and Muslim tradition. Consistently across samples, religiosity predicted, either directly or indirectly, less frequent common heterosexual behaviors and masturbation, partly through sexual guilt and inhibition, and/or decreased sexual fantasy and the search for sexual pleasure. However, married Muslims’ religiosity, unlike Catholics’, did not directly undermine fertility-oriented sexuality and the search for pleasure. Religion's role in restricting sexuality seems to be rooted in deep psychological rationale. (shrink)

The relationship between religiosity and ethical behavior at work has remained elusive. In fact, inconsistent results in observed magnitudes and direction led Hood et al. (The psychology of religion: An empirical approach, 1996 ) to describe the relationship between religiosity and ethics as “something of a roller coaster ride.” Weaver and Agle (Acad Manage Rev 27(1):77–97, 2002 ) utilizing social structural versions of symbolic interactionism theory reasoned that we should not expect religion to affect ethical outcomes for all (...) religious individuals; rather, such a relationship likely depends on specific religious attitudes including religious motivation orientation (intrinsic RMO vs. extrinsic RMO), perceived sacred qualities of work (job sanctification), and views of God (VOG, loving vs. punishing). We examined the effects of these three religious attitudes on participants’ judgments of 29 ethically questionable vignettes. Consistent with symbolic interactionism theory, intrinsic RMO and having a loving view of God were both negatively related to endorsing ethically questionable vignettes, whereas extrinsic RMO was positively related to endorsing the vignettes. Unexpectedly, job sanctification was positively related to endorsing the vignettes. However, both intrinsic and extrinsic RMO moderated this relationship such that sanctifying one’s job was related to ethical judgments only for those who were: (a) low in intrinsic RMO or (b) high in extrinsic RMO. We reasoned based on symbolic interactionism theory that intrinsically motivated participants, in contrast to extrinsically motivated participants, may have utilized their religious beliefs as a guiding framework in making ethical judgments. (shrink)

This research aims to examine the impact of intrinsic religiosity on counterproductive work behavior directed toward the organization (CWB‐O) and the mediating role of Islamic work ethic in this impact. The data were collected from employees working in the hotel and restaurant industry (n = 684). The findings revealed that intrinsic religiosity had a positive and significant effect on Islamic work ethic. It was found that Islamic work ethic also had a negative and significant effect on CWB‐O. Similarly, (...) intrinsic religiosity had a negative and significant effect on CWB‐O. In addition, it was identified that the Islamic work ethic had a mediating role in the impact of intrinsic religiosity on CWB‐O. Taking into consideration that the relationship between intrinsic religiosity and CWB‐O and the role of Islamic work ethic in this relationship has not yet been examined in literature, the theoretical contribution of the current research can be better understood. From the perspective of practical contribution, this research may help and guide managers to understand how intrinsic religiosity affects CWB‐O. (shrink)

The Hispanic masculinity style may be “machismo” or “caballeros”, but is unknown among Hispanic clergy. Using a U.S. on-line survey database, Hispanic and non-Hispanic Catholic deacons self-reported religiosity and personality traits. Hispanic and non-Hispanic deacons reported similar depth on religious beliefs, but non-Hispanic, compared to Hispanic, deacons claimed higher interpersonal religious commitment and a spiritual transcendence of connectedness to others. On the HEXACO-60, Hispanic, compared to non-Hispanic, deacons reported significantly higher emotional traits and lower extraversion traits. Furthermore, Hispanic deacons (...) reported higher fearfulness and sociability and lower boldness facets, compared to non-Hispanic deacons. These results were independent of the ethnic composition of the parish community. Results suggest that Hispanic deacons may reflect “caballeros” masculinity-caring for others and sensitive to their emotional needs while socially outgoing. (shrink)

Populism, irrespective of its form as a political movement or ideological phenomenon, often has certain semi-religious characteristics. This article explores the religiosity of populism from two perspectives: the sacredness of the people, and the messianic character of the populist leader. Even within quotidian politics, the concept of “the people” within the national borders is generally given a prominent position; but it takes on a transcendental character within the context of populism. Similar to the absence of God in the system (...) of signifiers, in populism the people is also an “empty signifier”, equivocation on which is sanctified, and utilized for exclusionary purposes. Additionally, the people is often associated with a grassroots class, in many cases initiating an anti-intellectualist trend where “the people” are placed above secular, democratic political institutions. The leader, the other main actor in the various populist movements, is often seen as akin to a prophet who gives promises that outstrip reality and poses as a savior who will end all misfortune. The role of the populist leader can also be deemed religious, as he/she is described as the chosen one and often stands in direct relations of faith and love with each individual. (shrink)

Auch wenn Prof. Hammachers Interesse an einer inhaltlichen Auseinandersetzung über Jacobis problematische antijudaistische Polemik gegen Fichte und den Rationalismus nur begrenzt ist - sein Hauptanliegen besteht, wie er sagt, darin, Dokumente, die in der Jacobi-Ausgabe nicht untergebracht werden konnten, an dieser Stelle zu publizieren –, so können doch einige seiner sachlichen Einlassung und Missverständnisse nicht unwidersprochen bleiben. Anderes dagegen möchte ich als Bestätigung, ja sogar als Verstärkung meiner These zu den antijüdischen Tendenzen in Jacobis Kritik an Fichte und dem Rationalismus (...) ausdrücklich unterstreichen. Und schließlich möchte ich Hammachers Hinweis auf Jacobis »religiöse Haltung« aufgreifen und ihr religionsgeschichtlich ein wenig genauer nachgehen. Dabei wird sich zeigen, dass hier ein wichtiges Forschungsdesiderat liegt, das verdient - gerade was die Kontroverse Fichte-Jacobi betrifft –, gründlich aufgearbeitet zu werden. Ich meine, den je spezifisch protestantischen »Sozialisationshintergrund« von Fichte und Jacobi und dessen Einfluss auf ihr Denken. (shrink)

Sowohl bei dem Paul- als auch dem Hiob-Dilemma ist der Anteil der zweiten Entwicklungsstufe erstaunlich hoch. Es wurde ja bereits auf das Verantwortungsgefühl der Finnen auch in bezug auf die Religion hingewiesen. Vielleicht spiegelt sich dadurch einiges von dem im Volke lebendigen Protestantismus wider. Ende 2000 zählten 85% der Gesamtbevölkerung von Finnland zur evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche . Nach Schätzungen von Heino wird die Kirche immer noch für einen Moralisten gehalten, der die Menschen daran erinnert, was angemessen ist und was nicht. Vermutlich (...) liegt er dabei nicht falsch, wenn man das von den Vertretern der zweiten Stufe vermittelte Gottesbild betrachtet. Die auffällig großen Anzahlen der dritten Stufe bei den Ergebnissen dieser Untersuchung, die auf Interviews von aktiven Kirchenmitgliedern beruht, liegen noch höher als erwartet. Dies kann durch die Vielzahl der Formen von Religiosität auf der dritten Stufe erklärt werden, vom Atheismus bis zum Fundamentalismus, wie auch Oser und Gmünder feststellen . Aufgrund dieser vorliegenden Ergebnisse läßt sich leicht der zweifachen Auslegung der dritten Stufe durch Schweitzer und Bucher zustimmen. Danach stellt die religiös ausgerichtete dritte Stufe eine natürliche Phase der Entwicklungs des Individuums auf dem Weg zur nächsten Stufe dar. Die nicht-religiös ausgerichtete dritte Stufe ist der Endpunkt einer Entwicklung. Bei meiner Untersuchung würde die dritte Stufe eben ausdrücklich die ausreligiös gerichtete Entwicklungsstufe ausmachen, wobei es sich sehr wohl z. B. um das Auseinandergehen von kirchlicher und persönlicher Religiosität handeln könnte. Dies unterstützt meine These von der Privatisierung der Religiosität, insbesondere bei Männern. Der Gesamtanteil der dritten Stufe läßt sich auch von der lutherischen Zwei-Regimentlehre her erklären. Die Einteilung in ein irdisches und geistiges Regiment, in diesseitige und jenseitige Angelegenheiten, wird den auffällig großen Anteil der dritten Stufe zumindest nicht senken. Bei ihren Überlegungen über den Unterschied zwischen der Transzendenz und der Immanenz betonen Oser und Gmünder die Verbindung der religiösen Reife mit der religiösen Weltanschauung. Je höher die religiöse Entwicklung ist, umso dringender benötigt man eine Auslegung der jeweiligen Situation nach den Kriterien des religiös-metaphysischen Weltbildes, die auf die Betrachtung der Welt als einer Ganzheit in unterschiedlichen neuartigen Situationen beruhen. In Finnland läßt sich allem An-schein nach die Integration der religiösen Dimensionen hinsichtlich der lutherischen Regimentlehre nur schwer auffassen. Hinzu kommt die Frage nach der Universalität der Entwicklung der religiösen Struktur und nach deren unveränderlicher, die Kulturgrenzen überschreitender Entwicklungslinie. Die Resultate dieser Untersuchung unterstützen mit gewissem Vorbehalt die Auffassung, nach der die Entwicklung der religiösen Struktur in verschiedenen Kulturen gleichartigen Gesetzmäßigkeiten unterliegen würde. Die Hinweise auf die Kulturverbundenheit religiöser Äußerungen werden gleichfalls zu einem gewissen Punkt durch das finnische Material bekräftigt. Die Kulturverbundenheit kann im Hintergrund geschichtlicher Ereignisse betrachtet werden. Die finnische Gesellschaft und damit verbunden auch das Weltbild und die Religiosität der Finnen gerieten gegen Mitte der 60er Jahre in eine Übergangsphase. Die Urbanisierung beschleunigte sich, und die traditionelle Agrarkultur begann sich aufzulösen. Mit der Zunahme der Arbeitstellen in der Industrie entstanden immer dichter bewohnte Siedlungen. Im Zusammenhang mit dieser Entwicklung änderte sich auch das religiöse Weltbild allmählich. Die Veränderungen in bezug auf die Religiosität geschahen zumindest anfangs langsam, denn z. B. noch in der Mitte der 70er Jahre erwähnte Pentikäinen , folgende Termini als allgemein gebräuchlich für die finnische Lebensart: "The Finnish way of life and Finnish world view." Laut Heino bezeichnen die Wörter Unverbundenheit, Privatisierung und Synkretismus die Veränderung in der Religiosität der Finnen in den letzten Jahren. Den Statistiken zufolge zeigt sich auch im religiösen Leben das Streben nach Individualität und Unabhängigkeit. Das Nebeneinander vieler Religionen verblüfft ebenso. Diese von Heino beschriebene Lage der letzten Jahre kann als der Endpunkt des in den 60er Jahren begonnenen Entwicklungsprozesses angesehen werden. Aus der Perspektive der religiösen Entwicklung stimuliert die Umwelt nicht gerade die Entstehung eines reifen religiösen Denkens. Im Jahre 1967 waren die Befragten meiner Untersuchung im Alter von 23-37 Jahren. Daß man sich an das Weltbild der Jugend festklammert, kann sehr wohl eine Erklärung für den Stillstand der religiösen Entwicklung auf der zweiten oder dritten Stufe sein. Holm schrieb, wie unsere Kultur dazu neigt, religiöse Auffassungen als recht kindlich hinzustellen. Manch einer mag glauben, daß es bei religiösen Fragen nicht wie üblich erlaubt ist, seinen Überlegungen freien Lauf zu lassen. Es gilt, entweder den naiven Kindesglauben aufrechtzuerhalten oder seinen Glauben ganz aufzugeben. Holm betont, daß eine starke bewußte Arbeit nötig ist, um früh erlernte Überzeugungen verarbeiten, sich neu zu orientieren und sich weiter zuentwickeln. Steht solch ein Prozeß erst an den Anfängen oder ist er vielleicht noch nicht abgeschlossen? Zu Beginn meiner Untersuchung wurde die Hypothese aufgestellt, daß die eigenen Erfahrungen eventuell in einer Verbindung mit der Entwicklungsstufe des religiösen Urteils stehen. Die Hypothese erwies sich als falsch. Die Ergebnisse meiner Untersuchung sind eigentlich recht logisch. Diesen Resultaten zufolge besteht kein Zusammenhang zwischen einem religiösen Dilemma im eigenen Leben und einer hohen religiösen Entwicklungsstufe. Eigene Erfahrungen über religiöse Dilemmata oder Leiden fördern den Entwicklungsprozeß keineswegs. Diese Ergebnisse können als Stütze grundsätzliche Annahme strukturalistischer Theorien angesehen werden, d.h. die Annahme einer invarianten Sequenz. Die Stufen können nicht überschritten werden, sondern man unterliegt der immanenten Logik der Transformationen der Strukturen. Sie bekräftigen auch die von Kohlberg erwähnte grundsätzliche Vermutung der kognitiven Theorie, wonach die Entwicklung kognitiver Strukturen das Resultat des Interaktionprozesses zwischen der Struktur des Organismus und der Struktur der Umwelt ist und nicht so sehr das Ergebnis von Lernen und Reifung. Welche Rolle die Umwelt und das Lernen bei der religiösen Entwicklung spielen, bleibt noch bei umfangreicheren Projekten in der Zukunft zu untersuchen. (shrink)

Workforce diversity has received increasing amounts of attention from academics and practitioners alike. In this article, we examine the empirical association between a firm’s workforce diversity and the degree of religiosity of the firm’s management by investigating their unidirectional and endogenous effects. Employing a large and extensive U.S. sample of firms from the years 1991–2010, we find a positive association between a measure of the firm’s commitment to diversity and the religiosity of the firm’s management after controlling for (...) various firm characteristics. In addition, after controlling for endogeneity with the dynamic panel generalized method of moment, we still find a positive association between the firm’s diversity and management’s religiosity. We interpret these results as supportive of the religious motivation explanation that views the firm as a human community and considers religion as a factor that influences managers to more positively embrace diversity. Our results, however, provide no support for the resource-constraint hypothesis that views the firm as a nexus of contracts and sees managers as aiming to maximize shareholder returns under resource constraints that force them to invest only in projects that have a positive net present value and reject diversity initiatives since these do not have a positive NPV. (shrink)

In 1949 Culliton noted that "... religion has something to offer business" (Culliton, 1949, p. 265). While religion definitely does have something to offer business, especially business ethics, it is only recently that empirical research linking religiosity and business ethics has been conducted. Indeed, religiosity affords a background, against which the ethical nature of business, including marketing and consumer behavior, can be interpreted. This article offers a descriptive, rather than normative, perspective in reviewing articles linking religion to business (...) and consumer ethics. The main objective of the article being both to present some of the most significant empirical findings to date and also to encourage researchers to pursue further research in this relatively under researched area. (shrink)