Differences of ideas about religion in the everyday consciousness of churchbound and unchurched people

Aim. To identify differences in beliefs about religion in groups of churchbound and unchurched people.

 Methodology. The main content of the study is the analysis of ideas about the religion of churchbound and unchurched people by the method of psychosemantics – semantic differential. The semantic differential was based on the material of Russian vocabulary. The incentive word: the Orthodox Christian religion. The method of data processing is factor analysis.

Results. The analysis has shown that in a group of churchbound people, internal activities for the formation, development and mastery of their own worldview can be traced. Besides, there is practically no contradiction in the ideas of religion among the churchbound people, unlike the group of unchurched people due to the predominance of a sign system: reliance on the text of Holy Scripture. For the unchurched people ideas about religion belong to the emotional sphere and do not affect the semantic one. On the contrary, in the group of churchbound people the ideas about religion are meaningful and express the desire for a final meaning or «super sense».

Research implications. Three main differences in the ideas of religion in the groups of churchbound and unchurched people have been identified: 1. Positive – negative; 2. Humanistic – authoritarian; 3. Relevant – irrelevant. The results obtained can be used for the enlightenment of spiritual culture in various social institutions.

1. V orobyeva K. I. , Baderko A. V. [Research of ideas about religion of churchbound and unchurched people]. In: Problemy sovremennogo obrazovaniya [Problems of modern education], 2022, no. 4, pp. 29–40. DOI: 10.31862/2218-8711-2022-4-29-40.

2. V orobyeva K. I. , Baderko A. V. [Religion as a collective unconscious]. In: Social’nye i gumanitarnye nauki na Dal’nem Vostoke [Social and humanitarian sciences in the Far East], 2022, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 23–27.

3. D vojnin A. M. [Meaningful orientations of a religious personality]. In: Vestnik Pravoslavnogo Svyato-Tihonovskogo gumanitarnogo universiteta. Seriya 4: Pedagogika. Psihologiya [Bulletin of the Orthodox St. Tikhon University for the Humanities. Series 4: Pedagogy. Psychology], 2011, no. 3 (22), pp. 139–151.

4. James W. The varieties of religious experience. A study in human nature (Rus. ed.: Malahieva-Mirovich E. G., transl. Mnogoobrazie religioznogo opyta. Moscow, Akademicheskij proekt Publ., 2019. 415 p.).

5. D olganov D. N. [Semantic features of religious ideas]. In: Vestnik Pravoslavnogo Svyato-Tihonovskogo gumanitarnogo universiteta. Seriya 4: Pedagogika. Psihologiya [Bulletin of the Orthodox St. Tikhon University for the Humanities. Series 4: Pedagogy. Psychology], 2014, no. 3 (34), pp. 110–121. DOI: 10.15382/sturIV201434.

6. Efremova M. V. Vzaimosvyaz’ grazhdanskoj i religioznoj identichnosti s ekonomicheskimi ustanovkami i predstavleniyami: dis. … kand. psihol. nauk [The relationship of civil and religious identity with economic attitudes and ideas: Cand. Sci. thesis in Psychology]. Moscow, 2010. 176 p.

7. Zhizhina M. V. [Dynamics of social perceptions of student youth about mass media in the period from 2009–2012 to 2017–2018]. In: Psihologiya. Istoriko-kriticheskie obzory i sovremennye issledovaniya [Psychology. Historical and critical reviews and modern research], 2018, vol. 7, no. 5A, pp. 87–98.

8. Leont’ev A. A. Deyatel’nyj um (Deyatel’nost’, Znak, Lichnost’) [Active mind (Activity, Sign, Personality)]. Moscow, Smysl Publ., 2001. 392 p.

9. Leont’ev A. N. Deyatel’nost’. Soznanie. Lichnost’ [Activity. Consciousness. Personality]. Moscow, Smysl Publ., Akademiya Publ., 2005. 352 p.

10. Leont’ev D. A., ed. Lichnostnyj potencial: struktura i diagnostika [Personal potential: structure and diagnostics]. Moscow, Smysl Publ., 2011. 519 p.

11. Mamardashvili M. K., Pyatigorskij A. M. Simvol i soznanie. (Metafizicheskie rassuzhdeniya o soznanii, simvolike i yazyke) [Symbol and consciousness. (Metaphysical reasoning about consciousness, symbolism and language)]. Moscow, Progress-Tradiciya Publ., 2009. 216 p.

12. Myagkov I. F., Shcherbatyh Yu. V. , Kravcova M. S. [Psychological analysis of the level of individual religiosity]. In: Psihologicheskij zhurnal [Psychological journal], 1996, vol. 17, no. 6, pp. 120–122.

13. O rnatskij F. Uchenie Shlejermahera o religii [Schleiermacher’s doctrine of religion]. Kiev, Printing house of G. T. Korchak-Novitsky, 1884. 580 p.

14. Platonov A. V., Prokop’eva S. A. [Students’ perceptions of Russia’s national security]. In: Mezhdunarodnyj nauchno-issledovatel’skij zhurnal [International Scientific Research Journal], 2018, no. 1 (67). Available at: https://research-journal.org (accessed: 20.02.2023). DOI: 10.23670/IRJ.2018.67.054.

15. Ulybina E. V. Obydennoe soznanie v kartine mira lichnosti (Psihosemanticheskij podhod): dis. … d-ra psihol. nauk [Ordinary consciousness in the picture of the world of personality (Psychosemantic approach): Dr. Sci. thesis in Psychology]. Stavropol’, 1999. 368 p.

16. Homyakov A. S. Sochineniya bogoslovskie [Theological writings]. St. Petersburg, Nauka Publ., 1995. 479 p.

17. D urkheim E. Examen critique des systemes classiques sur l’origine de la pensee religieuse. In: Revue philosophique, 1909, no. 1-2, pp. 476–493.

18. Frankl V. Trotzdem Ja zum Leben sagen. Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager. Munchen, Penguin Verlag, 2018. 320 p.

19. Levy-Bruhl L. La mentalite primitive. In: Philosophical Review, 1932, no. 41, pp. 543–556.

20. Prigogine I. , Stengers I. Order out of chaos. Man’s new dialogue with nature. London, Heinemann, 1984. 432 p.