Personal Aspects of Religiosity and Civic Engagement: The Mediating Role of Prayer

Abstract

The aim of the presented research was to test the relationship between basic beliefs about a religious object (Transcendence, God) operationalized by Hutsebaut and various forms of civic engagement. In discovering these relationships, the mediating role of prayer importance, understood as an indicator of the strength of commitment to the relationship with God, was taken into account. In the study conducted with 535 young adults, the following tools were used: Post-Critical Belief Scale, Civic Engagement Questionnaire and Prayer Importance Scale. The results showed that social activities were more strongly associated with beliefs accepting the existence of God, while political activities were more strongly linked with attitudes rejecting the existence of God. Prayer importance was shown to mediate the relationship between beliefs accepting the existence of God and social activities and to increase the strength of service-oriented activities.