Research on Religious Identity of Orthodoxy Youth

Abstract

The article represents the results of socio-psychological research of Orthodox youth religious identity. The research was carried out in the city of Smolensk, Russian Federation, on 261 respondents, high school pupils (9—10th grades. According to the models of G. Allport and R. Gorsuch & S. E. McPherson, the religious identity as a complex socio-psychological concept contains 4-factor structure basing on personal- social and inner-outer scales but doesn’t seem to be a simple Orthodox affiliation. Different components of the religious identity are studied through their connection with value orientations (according to S. Schwartz). To study the religious identity and value orientations we used the adapted version of 32 items questionnaire based on Individual / Social Religious Identity Measure by D. Van Camp and S. Schwartz’s Portrait Value Questionnaire (PVQ-R2). Almost all values connected with religious identity components seem to be socially motivated. It can be said that contemporary Orthodox youth religious identity is figured out to possess a pronounced social character. This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Humanities (project № 15-06-10843 «Religious identity risks and resources in present-day Russia: cross-cultural analysis»).