Religious Commitment and Social Attitudes in Ireland

Abstract

In modern society, religion has withdrawn from its traditional role of guiding secular institutions and thought, adopting the more limited function of serving spiritual needs. This paper uses multivariate analysis to measure the influence of religious commitment on everyday social attitudes. The data is based on a large representative sample of males in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, collected in 1973. Religious commitment is measured by three variables: ritual, personal devotion to God, and belief in the supernatural. Four separate social attitudes are identified from a factor analysis, and multiple regression is used to relate these to religious commitment. The findings show that religious behavior and belief do influence social attitudes, but that the relationships are not as strong as might be expected from such a highly religious ,ociety. In addition, the divisions between Anglicans and Presbyterians are frequently as great as those between Catholics and A nglicans or Pres byterians.