Religiosity

1 Components
Numerous studies have explored the dierent components of human religiosity (Brink, 1993; Hill & Hood
1999). What most have found is that there are multiple dimensions (they often employ factor analysis). For
instance, Cornwall, Albrecht, Cunningham and Pitcher
(1986) identify six dimensions of religiosity based on the
understanding that there are at least three components to
religious behavior: knowing (cognition in the mind), feeling (aect to the spirit), and doing (behavior of the body).
For each of these components of religiosity there were
two cross classications resulting in the six dimensions:[4]

The Gallup Religiosity Index, 2009. (light color indicates religious, dark nonreligious)[1]

Cognition
traditional orthodoxy
particularistic orthodoxy
Aect
Palpable
Tangible
Behavior

A map of the importance of religion to peoples daily lives, as

self-reported, by the Gallup Poll (2006-2008).[2]

religious behavior
religious participation
Other researchers have found dierent dimensions, ranging generally from four to twelve components. What most
measures of religiosity nd is that there is at least some
distinction between religious doctrine, religious practice,
and spirituality.

For example, one can accept the truthfulness of the Bible

(belief dimension), but never attend a church or even belong to an organized religion (practice dimension). Another example is an individual who does not hold orthoA map of the importance of religion, by the Pew Research Center
[3]
dox Christian doctrines (belief dimension), but does at(2002).
tend a charismatic worship service (practice dimension)
in order to develop his/her sense of oneness with the
Religiosity, in its broadest sense, is a comprehensive divine (spirituality dimension).
sociological term used to refer to the numerous aspects An individual could disavow all doctrines associated with
of religious activity, dedication, and belief (religious organized religions (belief dimension), not aliate with
doctrine). Another term that would work equally well, an organized religion or attend religious services (practice
though less often used, is religiousness.
dimension), and at the same time be strongly committed
In its narrowest sense, religiosity deals more with how
religious a person is, and less with how a person is
religious (in practicing certain rituals, retelling certain
stories, revering certain symbols, or accepting certain
doctrines about deities and afterlife).

to a higher power and feel that the connection with that

higher power is ultimately relevant (spirituality dimension). These are explanatory examples of the broadest dimensions of religiosity and that they may not be reected
in specic religiosity measures.
1

Most dimensions of religiosity are correlated, meaning

people who often attend church services (practice dimension) are also likely to score highly on the belief and spirituality dimensions. But individuals do not have to score
high on all dimensions or low on all dimensions; their
scores can vary by dimension.
Sociologists have diered over the exact number of components of religiosity. Charles Glock's ve-dimensional
approach (Glock, 1972: 39) was among the rst of its
kind in the eld of sociology of religion.[5] Other sociologists adapted Glocks list to include additional components (see for example, a six component measure by
Mervin F. Verbit).[6][7][8]

REFERENCES

2.2 Intelligence levels

Main article: Religiosity and intelligence
Many academic studies have found a negative relationship between religiosity (measured as religious practices,
spiritual beliefs, etc.) and intelligence (measured as IQ or
EI) that is, religious believers are generally less intelligent than irreligious people are. A 2013 meta-analysis of
scientic studies about IQ and religiosity found a reliable
negative relation between intelligence and religiosity in
53 out of 63 studies.[12]

2.3 Just-world hypothesis

2
2.1

Contributions
Genes and environment

Studies have found belief in a just world to be correlated

with aspects of religiousness.[13][14]

3 See also
Demographics of atheism
Religion and personality
Spiritual But Not Religious
Demographics:
Importance of religion by country
Religiosity and intelligence
Religion and happiness
Religiosity and education

National welfare spending vs church attendance in Christian societies.

The contributions of genes and environment to religiosity

have been quantied in studies of twins (Bouchard et al.,
1999; Kirk et al., 1999) and sociological studies of welfare, availability, and legal regulations [9] (state religions,
etc.).
Koenig et al. (2005) report that the contribution of genes
to variation in religiosity (called heritability) increases
from 12% to 44% and the contribution of shared (family)
eects decreases from 56% to 18% between adolescence
and adulthood.[10]
A market-based theory of religious choice and governmental regulation of religion have been the dominant theories used to explain variations of religiosity between societies. However, Gill and Lundsgaarde (2004) [11] documented a much stronger correlation between welfare
state spending and religiosity. See Welfare spending vs
Church attendance diagram on the right.

4 References
[1] The Religiosity Index is a measure of the importance of
religion for respondents and their self-reported attendance
of religious services. For religions in which attendance
at services is limited, care must be used in interpreting
the data. (Gallup WorldView), (Religiosity Highest in
Worlds Poorest Nations, Gallup Global Reports, August
31, 2010, retrieved 2014-01-23)
[2] In 2006, 2007, and 2008, Gallup asked representative
samples in 143 countries and territories whether religion
was an important part of their daily lives. This map is
based on the results, and shows religiosity by country,
ranging from the least religious to the most religious on
a relative basis. Data from 2009 Gallup poll.
[3] Pew Research Center Report, 2002
[4] Cornwall; Albrecht, Cunningham, Pitcher (1986). The
Dimensions of Religiosity: A Conceptual Model with an
Empirical Test. Review of Religious Research 27 (3):
226244. doi:10.2307/3511418. Cite uses deprecated
parameter |coauthors= (help)

[5] Glock, C. Y. (1972) On the Study of Religious Commitment in J. E. Faulkner (ed.) Religions Inuence in Contemporary Society, Readings in the Sociology of Religion,
Ohio: Charles E. Merril: 38-56.

Kirk KM, Eaves LJ, Martin NG. Self-transcendence

as a measure of spirituality in a sample of older
Australian twins. Twin Res. 1999 Jun;2(2):81-7.
PMID 10480742

[6] Verbit, M. F. (1970). The components and dimensions of

religious behavior: Toward a reconceptualization of religiosity. American mosaic, 24, 39.

Winter T. Kaprio J, Viken RJ, Karvonen S, Rose

RJ. Individual dierences in adolescent religiosity
in Finland: familial eects are modied by sex and
region of residence. Twin Res. 1999 Jun;2(2):10814. PMID 10480745

[7] Kkcan, T. (2010). Multidimensional Approach to Religion: a way of looking at religious phenomena. Journal
for the Study of Religions and Ideologies, 4(10), 60-70.
[8] http://www.eskieserler.com/dosyalar/mpdf%20(1135)
.pdf
[9] Nolan, P., & Lenski, G. E. (2010). Human societies: Introduction to macrosociology. Boulder, CO: Paradigm
Publisher.
[10] L. B. Koenig, M. McGue, R. F. Krueger and T. J.
Bouchard, Jr. (2005). Genetic and environmental inuences on religiousness: ndings for retrospective and current religiousness ratings. Journal of Personality, 73, 47188
[11] Gill, Anthony; Erik Lundsgaarde (2004). State Welfare
Spending and Religiosity. Comparative Political Studies
16 (4): 399436. doi:10.1177/1043463104046694. Free
PDF
[12] Akshat Rathi, New meta-analysis checks the correlation
between intelligence and faith, Ars Technica, 11 August
2013.
[13] Begue, L. (2002). Beliefs in justice and faith in people:
just world, religiosity and interpersonal trust. Personality
and Individual Dierences, 32(3), 375-382.
[14] Kurst, J., Bjorck, J., & Tan, S. (2000). Causal attributions
for uncontrollable negative events. Journal of Psychology
and Christianity, 19, 4760.

External links
Bouchard TJ Jr, McGue M, Lykken D, Tellegen
A. Intrinsic and extrinsic religiousness: genetic and
environmental inuences and personality correlates.
Twin Res. 1999 Jun;2(2):88-98.
Brink, T.L. 1993. Religiosity: measurement. in
Survey of Social Science: Psychology, Frank N.
Magill, Ed., Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 1993, pp.
20962102.
Cornwall, M., Albrecht, S.L., Cunningham, P.H.,
and Pitcher, B.L. 1986. The dimensions of religiosity: A conceptual model with an empirical test. Review of Religious Research, 27:226-244.
Hill, Peter C. and Hood, Ralph W. Jr. 1999. Measures of Religiosity. Birmingham, Alabama: Religious Education Press. ISBN 0-89135-106-X

6 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

6.1

Text

Religiosity Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religiosity?oldid=659699314 Contributors: Bdesham, Quizkajer, Ashley Y, Nagelfar,

Everyking, Andycjp, Indolering, Neutrality, RTCearly, Rich Farmbrough, Andrewpmk, Tariqabjotu, MGTom, Rjwilmsi, Goingin, Quiddity, Action potential, Gadget850, SmackBot, Jtneill, Fishhead64, Tim bates, Keahapana, Iridescent, Penbat, Tawkerbot4, DouglasReay,
Mattisse, Tlbrink, Gabriel Kielland, Lyonscc, MartinBot, WotherspoonSmith, Joie de Vivre, Zara1709, Treisijs, Umalee, DSGruss, Docleaf,
Realbie, Ziggy2008~enwiki, Dwrcan, Zik2, Avoided, SilvonenBot, Addbot, Yobot, Tempodivalse, AnomieBOT, 90, Citation bot, LucienBOT, Zygryk, RjwilmsiBot, Unreal7, Mattjmitchell92, Widr, Salcombe1, ChrisGualtieri, Dreamatorium, Nathanielrst, I.am.a.qwerty,
BayBall2398, Matsutonka, Monkbot and Anonymous: 32

6.2

Images

File:Church_Attendance_and_Welfare_Spending_Graph.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/66/Church_

Attendance_and_Welfare_Spending_Graph.png License: Fair use Contributors:
Academic paper, Welfare State Spending and Religiosity Original artist: ?
File:Gallup_Religiosity_Index_2009.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Gallup_Religiosity_Index_
2009.png License: Public domain Contributors: Gallup WorldView Original artist: Emilfaro
File:Religion_in_the_world.PNG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Religion_in_the_world.PNG License: CC BY 3.0 Contributors: Self made, data from 2009 Gallup poll. Original artist: Sbw01f
File:Religious_importance.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Religious_importance.png License:
Public domain Contributors: (self-made)- Pew Research Center Report, 2002[1] Original artist: Created by: Moshin, Sourced by: Jersyko
File:Wikiversity-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Wikiversity-logo.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Contributors: Snorky (optimized and cleaned up by verdy_p) Original artist: Snorky (optimized and cleaned up by verdy_p)

6.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0