The connection between religiosity and psychological stability among Muslims in Russian megacities

Abstract

The article presents the results of an analysis of the relationship between external and internal religiosity, religious practice and psychological stability among Muslims living in Russian megacities. The study involved 87 respondents: 12 men and 75 women aged from 16 to 70 years. To determine the level of external and internal religiosity, the Mussarat Jaben Khan scale of Muslim religiosity was used (Khan, 2014). To measure psychological stability, the method of diagnosing “The dominant state” of L.V. Kulikov was used. Kulikov in a shortened version (DS-6) (Kulikov, 2003), the respondents’ attitude towards religious practice was assessed by the author’s questionnaire. Analysis of the study results confirmed our hypothesis that the level of religiosity, both external and internal, is associated with various aspects of psychological stability. The study revealed a significant positive relationship between internal religiosity and such scales of the dominant psychological state as “stability of emotional tone”, “calmness”, “high tone”, and a negative relationship with the scale “active attitude to life situation”. And also the results of the study showed that the connection between external religiosity and the scales of the dominant psychological state is not significant in any of the cases, except for the negative connection with the “stability of emotional tone” scale. This generally indicates that for Muslims living in Russian megacities and who took part in the study, internal religiosity is a significant factor in increasing psychological stability.