Author/Authors :
Paker, Kamile Oya Ege Üniversitesi - İletişim Fakültesi - Radyo-Televizyon ve Sinema Bölümü, Turkey , Akçalı, Selda İçin Ege Üniversitesi - İletişim Fakültesi - Gazetecilik Bölümü, Turkey
Abstract :
The goal of this study was to develop a scale with regard to the individualization in religion that will serve the observation of a probable transformation of religion from the traditional to the individual. The sample of the study was formed by 522 university students (46,2 % female, 53,6 % male) from various faculties and departments. The 12-item scale prepared by the researchers had a seven point Likert type answer category. When the different component analyses were examined, the most meaningful structure seemed to be the two-component structure that described 40,1 % of the variance. These factors were accepted as the sub-dimensions of the scale and named as “Separating Religion from Traditions and Rituals” and “Experiencing Religion as an Individual Feeling of Depth”. The reliability alpha coefficients were found to be 0,73 for the Scale of the Individualization of Religion, 0,74 for the dimension of “Separating Religion from Traditions and Rituals” and 0,68 for “Experiencing Religion as an Individual Feeling of Depth”. No relationship was found between the second dimension of the scale and the belief level; a significant relationship was found in the reverse direction between the other two sub-dimensions and the general scale, on the one hand, and the religiousness and the belief level, on the other hand. The variance analysis results where the scale was examined according to the political opinion indicated that the scale was distinguishing with respect to the different ideologies. We observed these differentiations for the two sub-dimensions and the general scale. While the Atatürkist / Kemalist / Republican group received the highest score in the scale of the individualization of religion, the Conservative and the Conservative-Nationalist group received the lowest score.
