Investigating Religious Beliefs and Secularist/Fundamentalist Orientations of  Payame Noor University Students in Sari Township

Mohammadpur, Ahmad; Alizadeh, Mehdi; Ghaderzadeh, Omid; Ghodrati, Hossein

Investigating Religious Beliefs and Secularist/Fundamentalist Orientations of Payame Noor University Students in Sari Township

Authors

Ahmad Mohammadpur

Mehdi Alizadeh

Omid Ghaderzadeh

Hossein Ghodrati

Abstract

The importance of religion and religiosity in Iran notwithstanding, certain shifts have occurred in the religious systems of the Iranian society in recent years. This study uses the model developed by Stark and Glock to measure religiosity in terms of beliefs, rituals, experiences and consequences among students of Payame Noor University in Sari Township. Findings indicate some level of religiosity among a majority of the students (87.4 %). There exists a direct and significant relationship between all aspects of religiosity and fundamentalist/secularist orientations of the students. A relationship between religiosity and gender is confirmed while no relationship between religiosity and field of study is observed. In addition, a significant relationship is revealed between marital status and the consequential aspect of religiosity. Finally, study findings highlight all dimensions of religiosity among the students with significant correlations among them.

Keywords

Fundamentalism

Payame Noor University

Religiosity

Sari Township

secularization

students