The National Religious Environment and the Orthodoxy of Christian Beliefs: A Comparison of Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Abstract

The authors analyse the relationship between primary religious socialisation and the preservation of religious orthodoxy expressed by attitudes and practices in adulthood. They aim to test the effect of socialisation and the effect of religious practices in adulthood on the orthodoxy of people’s beliefs in three countries (Austria, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic), which are similar in terms of their cultural context, but have different religious environments. The authors see the different religious environment of each of the studied countries as the main explanatory factor. They also try to demonstrate that in an era of pluralism, orthodox religious attitudes (corresponding to offi cial teachings and practices) are more likely to be preserved in environments that are prevailingly secular in character. The authors work with data from the ISSP—Religion 2008 survey, tracking the following variables: primary religious socialisation, religious practice in adulthood, and orthodoxy of faith.