Transformation of the confessional structure of the population of Northwest Russia and the Baltics (late 19th — first quarter of the 21st centuries)

This paper presents national estimates of contraceptive usage patterns among white women from 1955-82 for the major religious populations in the United States. Drawing on several surveys, the data show that in 1955 differences in contraceptive use between white Protestants and Catholics were very large and corresponded to the higher fertility levels among Catholics. By 1982, all the major religious groups had experienced downward changes in expected family size and all used effective contraceptive methods, including sterilization, the pill, and the IUD. Despite some convergence in the patterns of contraceptive usage over time, significant differences in contraceptive use styles remain among Catholics, Protestants, Jews, and those of no religious affiliation after multivariate controls eliminated socioeconomic and sociodemographic differences among these subpopulations. The evidence points to the multiple contraceptive paths to similar levels of low fertility. A series of hypotheses are proposed to account for these different contraceptive use styles that relate to religious communities, peer pressure and social norms, differential sex roles, male-female communication patterns, and the differential use of physician-based versus other sources of contraceptives.

Reviewed by: Jews and the American Religious Landscape by Uzi Rebhun Michelle Shain Uzi Rebhun. Jews and the American Religious Landscape. New York: Columbia University Press, 2016. 236 pp. For four years, the Pew Research Center’s 2013 Survey of US Jews has dominated lay and academic discourse about the state of American Jewry. While there is much to learn from this large, representative study of US Jews, there is also much left unanswered—in particular, what aspects of the American Jewish experience are uniquely Jewish, and how American Jews’ responses to the social realities of contemporary America might be different from those of other religious or ethnic groups. Uzi Rebhun, whose existing body of work emphasizes American Jews in comparative context, addresses these questions in Jews and the American Religious Landscape. This new study is based on a different Pew Research Center survey, the 2007 US Religious Landscape Survey, which included a representative sample of over 35,000 Americans of different religions and a substantial number of Jews. Rebhun uses this dataset to take a broad look at the social, religious, and political characteristics of American Jews, as compared to other religious groups in American society. The study’s findings related to American Jews’ relative socioeconomic status (high), religious identification (low), and political orientation (liberal) are largely consistent with previous research. It is unsurprising, but nevertheless striking, to see that American Jews ranked higher than all other major religious groups in terms of educational attainment and income, and lower than all other major religious groups in terms of religious identification (Mormons ranked the highest, followed by black Protestants and evangelical Protestants). Unfortunately, as Rebhun himself points out, the nature of the 2007 US Religious Landscape Survey was such that its measures of religious identification had to apply across religious groups: for example, religious service attendance and belief in God. Measures related to issues of particularistic concern to Jews, including the State of Israel, [End Page 256] the Holocaust, and responsibility to the global Jewish community, were not included. Because the study relies on measures of Jewish commitment that are explicitly religious, it yields an interesting but incomplete picture of American Jews’ Jewish commitments. Religion per say is far less salient to many American Jews than Jewish culture, history, and peoplehood. In Rebhun’s analysis of religious switching in the 2007 US Religious Landscape Survey, fully 15 percent of adults with a Jewish upbringing considered themselves religiously unaffiliated. Rebhun notes that these “ethnic Jews” (also called “Jews of no religion”) make up an even larger proportion of American Jews in more recent surveys; in the Pew Research Center’s 2013 Survey of US Jews, they were 22 percent of all American Jews. Furthermore, in both the 2007 US Religious Landscape Survey and 2013 Survey of US Jews, the proportion of Jews whose Jewish identity is ethnic as opposed to religious was highest among those younger than thirty. Rebhun is careful to note that ethnic Jews are not estranged from the Jewish community and that some join synagogues and exhibit other traditional Jewish behaviors. He also notes that Jews are not dissimilar from mainline Protestants in their overall levels of religious identification. Yet, the data do not allow him to examine the ethnic modes of Jewish identification that may be more prominent for many Jews. Especially in light of the steady expansion of the number of ethnic Jews within American Jewry, there is a pressing need for more research on modes of Jewish identification outside the traditional religious context. Similarly, Rebhun’s analysis of political orientation underscores the need for more research on the evolving political attitudes and behaviors of American Jews. The book’s observations about politics turn on voter preference in the 2004 US presidential elections, when incumbent Republican president George W. Bush defeated Democrat John Kerry. One wonders how the determinants of voter preference have changed more than a dozen years later, after repeated clashes between the Obama administration and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu over West Bank settlements, the peace process, and the Iran nuclear deal, not to mention the election of Donald Trump as the forty-fifth president of the United States. More recent data is...

This study seeks to investigate the effects of religion on personality traits, positive and negative facets of psychosocial development, and prosocial behaviors. To control for the extent of religiousness, we applied a four-fold typology to classify individuals into different faith types in addition to their religious affiliations. This typology distinguishes an integrated religious faith from other types of faith. We hypothesized that people of different faith types would display significantly different patterns of personality traits and prosocial behaviors, and that the differences among faith types will be greater than those seen among the self-reported religious affiliations. The Chinese versions of NEO Personality Inventory-Revised, Measures of Psychosocial Development, Prosocial Behavior Inventory, and Faith Maturity Scale were administered to 544 students from 15 colleges and universities in Taiwan. Five major religious groups were identified according to their self-reported religious affiliations: Buddhist, Catholic, Protestant, Taiwanese folklore follower, and No-religion. The Taiwanese folklore group consisted of those who claimed to be Taoists, I-Kuan-Dao, and those who worship deities that were originally good people as so portrayed in the Taiwanese legends. The empirical results supported our research hypotheses. Specifically, the effect of faith type surpassed the self-professed religious affiliation and faith types differed significantly with respect to profiles of their personality, psychosocial development, and prosocial behaviors. In particular, the integrated faith type showed significantly better profiles than other faith types in relation to socially desirable personality traits and prosocial behaviors.

"We Are Next!": Listening to Jewish Voices in a Multicultural Country

BackgroundAlthough religious affiliation has been identified as a potential barrier to immunization in some African countries, there are no systematic multi-country analyses, including within-country variability, on this issue. We investigated whether immunization varied according to religious affiliation and sex of the child in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. MethodsWe used data from 15 nationally representative surveys from 2010 to 2016. The major religious groups were described by country in terms of wealth, residence, and education. Proportions of fully immunized and unvaccinated children were stratified by country, maternal religion, and sex of the child. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to assess whether the outcomes varied according to religion, with and without adjustment for the above cited sociodemographic confounders. Interactions between child sex and religion were investigated. ResultsFifteen countries had >10% of families affiliated with Christianity and >10% affiliated with Islam, and four also had >10% practicing folk religions. In general, Christians were wealthier, more educated and more urban. Nine countries had significantly lower full immunization coverage among Muslims than Christians (pooled prevalence ratio = 0.81; 95%CI: 0.79–0.83), of which seven remained significant after adjustment for confounders (pooled ratio = 0.90; 0.87–0.92). Four countries had higher coverage among Muslims, of which two remained significant after adjustment. Regarding unvaccinated children, six countries showed higher proportions among Muslims, all of which remained significant after adjustment [crude pooled ratio = 1.83 (1.59–2.07); adjusted = 1.31 (1.14–1.48)]. Children from families practicing folk religions did not show any consistent patterns in immunization. Child sex was not consistently associated with vaccination. ConclusionMuslim religion was associated with lower vaccine coverage in several SSA countries, both for boys and girls. The involvement of religious leaders is essential for increasing immunization coverage and supporting the leave no one behind agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The study examines changes in Romania’s religious structure based on data from four post-communist censuses (1992, 2002, 2011, 2021). The research highlights that while the country’s religious composition has remained largely stable, population decline and shifts in denominational proportions indicate emerging trends. These include the growth of the Pentecostal movement, the expansion of neo-Protestant communities, and an increase in individuals with no religious affiliation. Among Roma communities, a notable shift towards evangelical small churches has been observed. The study contextualizes these changes within broader demographic, social, and cultural dynamics. Keywords: religious structure, census, post-communist Romania, evangelical movements, demographic trends

The subject of this research is the religious identity of Russian youth in the conditions of modern digital society. The author analyzes the factors of transformation of identification processes, examines the characteristics of religious identity, as well as defines the specificity of religious discourse within the Internet environment. The author believes that the main cause of the changes in religious consciousness and identity becomes rapid digitalization of all spheres of social life. This problematic gains relevance during the COVID-19 pandemic, forced self-isolation and transition towards remote work using the information and communication technologies. The author assumes that religious identity should be viewed from the perspective of its inclusion into a broader phenomenon – cyberidentity. An original definition of cyberidentity is proposed. The key factors of its formation, such as social networks and messengers, computer gamed, Internet memes, etc. are determined. The article leans on the analysis of information from websites of religious organizations, different groups in social networks, messengers and video hosting. The main source form empirical data became the results of large-scale research of dynamics of value orientations of youth of Nizhny Novgorod Region that was carried out from 2006 to 2019. The author concludes that currently it may appear that secular trends are growing, while the interest of youth in religion declines. This is conferment by the data acquired from mass surveying, interviewing, and analyzing the content of social networks. However, secularization processes have contradictory, nonlinear and unpredictable character. Within the Internet space, the dialects of religion and secular not just being retained, but reflected in the categories of digital society. In the digital post-secular society, religious identity becomes a part of the more global identification processes. It sets particular goals for the traditional religions, which are forced to adapt to civilizational challenges.

This study, based on 2001 Canadian census data for 16 census metropolitan areas, explores residential segregation among eight religious groups. We include non–Christian religious groups to reflect the emerging religious diversity of Canadian society. Our study provides the first comprehensive comparison of the residential patterns of people affiliated with major religious groups in Canada. We argue that each religion is associated with unique sets of religious institutional behaviors, which in turn shape each religious group's relationships with other religious groups. In this study, we identify four religious institutional behaviors that can affect the residential segregation of various religious groups: institutional orientation of religious community services, subcultural identity, religious identity, and discrimination. The findings indicate that these religious institutional behaviors are related to the residential segregation patterns of different religious groups.

THE ETHNIC HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL NOVGOROD (BASED ON CRANIOMETRIC DATA)

This study aims to determine if there is a significant difference in attitudes toward elective abortion as a social taboo among young adults when considering their religious affiliation and their extent of religious adherence by drawing from the Social Learning Theory and the Moral Communities Hypothesis. The findings highlight the importance of recognizing the diverse attitudes toward elective abortion among individuals within the predominantly Catholic Philippines. A self-administered online survey questionnaire was utilized in this study. A non-probability convenience sampling method was employed ensuring the major religious groups are represented. To examine whether an attitudinal variation exists when considering religious affiliation and the extent of religious adherence among the sample population of sixty (n = 60), a chi-square (χ²) test of independence was employed. The same was done considering the classificatory variables of sex and marital status. The results showed that attitudes toward elective abortion varied significantly among respondents when considering their religious affiliations (p = < .001), and when dichotomized into Catholic and non-Catholic groups, proportions still varied significantly (p = < .001), with most of the Catholic respondents exhibited a pro-choice attitude. Conversely, most of the non-Catholic respondents exhibited a pro-life attitude. Likewise, attitudes toward elective abortion varied significantly among respondents when considering their extent of religious adherence (p = < .001). Understanding this diversity is crucial for evidence-based policy recommendations and interventions related to bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive rights, as well as for promoting transparency and well-informed discussion on taboos such as abortion.

In the second half of the 19th — early 20th century, the release of educational and methodical literature for piano showed significant circulation volumes and was primarily associated with the flourishing of the Russian performing school and the growing interest of the general population in the beautiful world of music. The foundation of the Imperial Russian Music Society in 1959, the opening of the St. Petersburg (1862) and Moscow (1866) conservatories largely determined the goals and objectives, as well as the repertoire concept of a number of leading Russian music publishers.Among them, the firm “P.I. Jurgenson” took a leading position in the production of educational and methodical literature for piano, along with other well-known producers such as “M. Bernard”, “A. Gutheil” and “V.V. Bessel and Co.” The catalogues of music publishers from the collections of the Russian State Library contain information about the structure and principles of forming special sections devoted to education, about the publication activities of individual authors, and their works in the field of piano pedagogy.Together, this material allows to create a primary idea of the volume of products intended for music schools of the country and to take cognizance that all major Russian publishing houses, with rare exceptions, collaborated with the Imperial Russian Music Society, not only in Moscow or St. Petersburg, but also in its provincial branches, honourably putting their names on the title pages of the catalogs. A characteristic feature is the issues devoted to piano literature, including playing schools, collections of exercises, pedagogical repertoire of various degrees of complexity, manuals, etc.The scale of this professional activity was a reflection of the important evolutionary processes taking place in the Russian musical culture of the second half of the 19th — early 20th century. That period in piano art and pedagogy indicated the need to consider historical, social, economic and other contexts that create the right research tone and volume.

The effect of religiosity on customer experience has engendered a lot of debate in the existing literature. This study examines the effect of religiosity on customer experience among the three major religious groups in the hospitality sector in Nigeria. The study is premised on the dimensions of religiosity, which are religious knowledge, orientation, commitment and affiliation. Employing the survey research design, 544 customers in the hospitality industry who cut across the three main religions in Nigeria were sampled. The study employed the PLS-SEM tool in the analysis of data. The PLS-SEM analysis shows that religiosity (t-value=134.668) is a significant determinant of customer experience in the hospitality sector. The findings further reveal that there is no significant difference in customer experience among the three main ethnic groups in Nigeria. Practical Implication: It is inferred from the study that firms should pay attention to religiosity in order to give the customers an exciting experience. More attention should be paid to the customers’ religious orientation and knowledge. The role and significance of religion as relating to religious, affiliation, commitment, orientation and knowledge of the customers should not be ignored by firms in the provision of goods and services which will bring about better service encounter

The research object is church singing of the Kryashens (baptized Tatars), a sub-ethnic community of the Tatars following Eastern Christianity. The Kryashens are the bearers of a unique Orthodox singing tradition combining church chants and prayer texts in the Tatar language. The research subject is the historical background of church singing of baptized Tatars which inhabited the Laish and Mamadysh districts of Kazan province. The chronological framework covers the period of generation of the tradition - the late 19th - the early 20th century, which was the period of active missionary efforts of the Russian Orthodox church in the region. The author uses the historical, culturological and source study methods which help to detect the ways of formation of the singing tradition: they are connected with the introduction of a new system of religious and school education of “aliens” in the region, and the start of holding church services in the Tatar language. The research contains the information about the work of schools for the baptized Tatars and parishes in the late 19th - the early 20th century. The author evaluates the modern condition of the Kryashens’ Orthodox singing tradition in the region under consideration and detects the prerequisites of its development which had been established by missionaries in the pre-revolutionary period. The author arrives at a conclusion about an important role of music in the process of christian education of the baptized Tatars, and about significant contribution of the pre-revolutionary missionaries to the formation of spiritual and singing practice of the ethnos, which is currently an important component of its music culture. This ethno-regional tradition of Orthodox singing is considered in Russian musicology for the first time.   

Discriminant analysis has been used to analyze the composition of phenotypic forms and geographic differentiation of spruce populations in northwestern Russia in comparison with those of “standard” Norway spruce and Siberian spruce populations. The absolute prevalence of trees with an intermediate Norway-Siberian spruce phenotype has been revealed in almost all populations, except for the northernmost ones. Spruce populations in northwestern Russia may be divided into at least three groups, with the southern group being closer to the Norway spruce, and all other groups, to the Siberian spruce.

This study examines the relationship between religious affiliation and psychiatric diagnoses in a sample of 7050 patients at a mid-western psychiatric clinic (1977-80). Seven major and thirty-three specific religious groups are compared according to nine major and forty-four specific DSM II psychiatric diagnostic categories. The major finding is that under emotional stress, affiliates of major and specific religious groups tend to experience psychiatric disorder in different ways. Using the top third Chi-square values for both major and specific groups, a psychiatric profile is provided for each religious group in which significantly strong and weak diagnoses are rank ordered.