پديد آورندگان :
رياحي ، محمداسماعيل نويسنده دانشيار گروه علوم اجتماعي دانشگاه مازندران , , عليزاده حسين حاجلو، توحيد نويسنده دانشگاه آزاد اسلامي فيروزكوه, , , اشتياقي، معصومه نويسنده Eshtiyaghi, Masume , كاظميان، مهرداد نويسنده DDS, MS, Specialist at Operative Dentistry, Isfahan, Iran. Kazemian, Mehrdad
چكيده لاتين :
Introduction:
One of the features of society as well as human nature is seeking for safe place or haven in religion. Fear of death and suffering of life, makes human needy to faith in God. Religion as one of the most important social institutions in formulating meanings of social life has always had a special place. Religion is a social as well as divine phenomenon, and in particular, as it is mentioned in religious books, it has been sent to save humanity from the difficulties and tragedies life. According to the socio-cultural structure of Iranian society, religious identity among other social identities (national, ethnic, gender, etc.) has a prominent place.
With the development of communication and the emergence of mass media such as newspapers, television and cinema, different aspects of our social activities are affected by these phenomena. Indeed, it is conceded that the formation of our personality and social identity have been surrounded by mass media. In this regard television has undoubtedly a prominent position.
According to Giddens, the advent of television strongly influenced everyday life patterns, because many people set their activities around the certain television programs. Entering television to Iranian society is almost a new event, but in this the short time, its deep and lasting effects on the social relationships of Iranian community and influencing Iranian-Islamic identity could be observable clearly. TV helps us to provide our overall framework and attitudes towards social life generally, and to determine part of our social identity (religious) specifically. Due to its importance in providing this arena, we need to evaluate its consequences and impacts on social relations. From this perspective, the TV is not only entertainment provider, but also as an information and communication devices which has lasting effects on the reproduction of culture and collective identity of society. Thus, attention to the study of television effects on religious identity considerably is important. In addition, to identify the rate and type of television use among students as young group of society, and its relation to their identity can help planners and policy makers to design strategies and policies consciously for this group.
Because of the complexity of the issue, to examine the effects of television on religious identity, it seems that one theory cannot explain the issue completely. Therefore, in this research combined theoretical framework is used. Thus, to explain the effects of television, the theory of media effects, and in particular the Use and Gratification Theory, Cultivation Theory and the Theory of Knowledge Gaps were used. Also, theories of Modern Identity and in particular Structuration Theory of Giddens and Social Identity of Tajfl were used to study religious identity.
Acknowledging the role of mass media to shape or to change the identity of individuals, the present study explores the relationship between television and religious identity among the students of Mazandaran University. Therefore, the main objectives of this study are to identify: 1) the students’ religious identity, 2) the rate and type of television consumption as a cultural commodity by students, 3) and the relationship between rate and type of television consumption with the religious identity of students.
Materials and Methods:
The study has been conducted via Survey method. The subjects of study were 12962 formally enrolled students of Mazandaran University, Babolsar. By means of multi-stage cluster sampling method, 373 students have been selected randomly to fill up the self-administered questionnaire. A 14 items scale is used to measure the rate and type of television consumption. Also, a four dimensions scale (the theological dimension, experiential or emotional dimension, the outcome dimension and rituals dimension) with 26 items is applied to measure the respondentsʹ religious identity. Pre-test of final questionnaires is done in two stages between 100 respondents. Finally, all gathered data has been analyzed using SPSS software.
Discussion of result and conclusions:
The findings of this study indicated that in general, students enjoyed high level of religious identity. However, there is some variance as one consider level of religious identity by its four dimensions; that is, the highest and lowest reported religious identity were the theological (average of 4.61 out of 5) and ceremonial (average of 3.63) aspects, respectively. Also, research findings on the rate of television consumption indicated that status of television consumption among students is at a moderate to low (average of 2.37 from 5). Furthermore, a considerable number of students (7.5 percent) never watch the television. As explained in the Cultivation Theory, students as low consumption audiences of television, watch T.V as a selective and programmed behavior only for 2 hours or less daily, but use other media (especially internet) along with television. When Students consume television as a cultural commodity, they try to be "active"; indeed, they will interpret the content of the received program "actively". It seems that using other mass media (internet, book, magazine, satellite T.V, etc.), lack of access to television, and or reluctance to local television programs; are resulted to lower levels of television consumption among students. This finding would be more important if one notice that according to sociologist view such as Giddens, today television could have serious effects on daily life patterns. One of the important finding in the present study is that along with increasing consumption of local television among students, levels of religious identity also would be increased. This finding must be regarded by policy makers. With respect to the higher levels of other media consumption (such as the internet and satellite) as global cultural commodities, low levels of T.V consumption among students, can be a serious consideration.
Another important result of this study is the content of the programs which used by students as well as their effects on religious identity. Entertainment and leisure programs (average of 3.29 from 5) were the first favorable program; while the lowest one is related to religious programs (average of 2.23). In fact, there is a different between the content of television programs (as cultural goods) which have been used by students. As mentioned above, there is a direct, positive correlation between the rate of watching local TV programs with levels of religious identity; but the amount of correlation coefficient between purely religious T.V programs with religious identity in all dimension, compared to amount of correlation coefficient with other programs, were significantly higher. However, among all dimensions of religious identity, outcome dimension have the strongest correlation coefficient (.513) with the purely religious programs. Increased watching of purely religious programs has the greatest effect on the outcome dimension of religious identity. Also, faith dimension has the strongest correlation coefficient (.321) with the other T.V programs.
The results of this study indicate that to consider the quality and quantity of religious programs on local T.V, is an important factor in strengthening studentsʹ religious identity. On the other hand, this will have a great influence on the outcome dimension of religious identity. The findings suggest that higher levels of watching different T.V programs can be effective on traditional religious identity of students. Increasing religious T.V programs and encouragement young audiences to choose cultural consumption of local television, is an important factor for strengthening religious identity of young people as well as to make firm the foundation of religious identity in society. Therefore, filling leisure time of individuals, especially young students by the television programs, would be very important strategy which must be regarded by authorities. In fact, increasing quality of television programs adapted to the need of society, especially young students, is an important way to protect religious identity. In general, as the results of this study showed, use of local television programs have a positive impact on religious identity of students. Thus, the encouragement of young people to watch local television programs as well as enhancing the quality of religious T.V programs, can be the most important steps towards strengthen outcome dimension of religious identity among students.
