Abstract
This study explores the association between attitudes toward socio-economic human rights and three dimensions of religion (religious practice, religiosity, and self-assigned religious affiliation), after taking into account personal factors (age and sex) and psychological factors (extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism) among a sample of 987 students between the ages of 14 and 18 years in England and Wales. Religious practice was assessed by two factors, personal prayer and worship attendance. Religiosity was assessed by three factors, thinking about religious issues, reconsidering religious issues, and belief in God. Self-assigned religious affiliation distinguished among four groups, Protestant Christians, Catholic Christians, Muslims, and religiously unaffiliated. The data demonstrated the importance of personal factors, with females and older students holding more positive attitudes toward socio-economic human rights, and the importance of psychological factors, with higher neuroticism scores and lower psychoticism scores being associated with more positive attitudes toward socio-economic human rights. Among the dimension of religion, religiosity provided stronger prediction of individual differences in attitudes toward socio-economic human rights than either religious practice or self-assigned religious affiliation. In particular, adolescents who often gave thought to religious issues held more positive attitudes toward socio-economic human rights.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Anthony, F.-V. (2013). Public significance of religion with regard to socioeconomic rights in the multireligious context of Tamil Nadu, India. In J. A. van der Ven & H.-G. Ziebertz (Eds.), Human rights and the impact of religion (pp. 205–244). Leiden: Brill.
Beit-Hallahmi, B., & Argyle, M. (1997). The psychology of religious behaviour, belief and experience. London: Routledge.
Botvar, P. K. (2013). Religion and attitudes towards socioeconomic human rights: An empirical study of young adults in Norway. In J. A. van der Ven & H.-G. Ziebertz (Eds.), Human rights and the impact of religion (pp. 245–263). Leiden: Brill.
Botvar, P. K., & Sjöborg, A. (2012). Views on human rights among Christian, Muslim and non-religious youth in Norway and Sweden. Nordic Journal of Religion and Society, 75, 67–81.
Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 16, 297–334. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02310555.
DeVellis, R. F. (2003). Scale development: Theory and applications. London: Sage.
Eysenck, H. J., & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1976). Psychoticism as a dimension of personality. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Eysenck, H. J., & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1991). Manual of the Eysenck personality scales. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Francis, L. J. (1992). Is psychoticism really a dimension of personality fundamental to religiosity? Personality and Individual Differences, 13, 645–652. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(92)90235-H.
Francis, L. J. (1993). The dual nature of the Eysenckian neuroticism scales: A question of sex differences? Personality and Individual Differences, 15, 43–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(93)90040-A.
Francis, L. J., & Hermans, C. A. M. (2009). Psychological health and attitude toward Christianity: A study among pupils attending Catholic schools in the Netherlands. Journal of Religious Education, 57, 47–58.
Francis, L. J., & Penny, G. (2014). Gender differences in religion. In V. Saroglou (Ed.), Religion, personality and social behaviour (pp. 313–337). New York: Psychology Press.
Francis, L. J., & Robbins, M. (2013). Religion, personality and human rights: An empirical study among adolescents in England and Wales distinguishing between religious identity and textual authority among Christians and Muslims. In J. A. van der Ven & H.-G. Ziebertz (Eds.), Human rights and the impact of religion (pp. 97–118). Leiden: Brill.
Francis, L. J., & Robbins, M. (2016). Attitude toward human rights and religiosity among adolescents in England and Wales: Replicating and extending a study in Turkey. In H.-G. Ziebertz & E. H. Ballin (Eds.), Freedom of religion in the twenty-first century: A human rights perspective on the relationship between politics and religion (pp. 105–129). Leiden: Brill.
Francis, L. J., Brown, L. B., & Philipchalk, R. (1992). The development of an abbreviated form of the revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQR-A): Its use among students in England, Canada, the USA and Australia. Personality and Individual Differences, 13, 443–449. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(92)90073-X.
Francis, L. J., Robbins, M., Louden, S. H., & Haley, J. M. (2001). A revised psychoticism scale for the revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire: A study among clergy. Psychological Report, 88, 1131–1134. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.2001.88.3c.1131.
Francis, L. J., Robbins, M., ap Siôn, T., Lewis, C. A., & Barnes, L. P. (2007). Psychological health and attitude toward Christianity among Protestant and Catholic sixth-form pupils in Northern Ireland. Pastoral Psychology, 56, 157–164. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-007-0092-z.
Francis, L. J., Robbins, M., Santosh, R., & Bhanot, S. (2008). Religion and mental health among Hindu young people in England. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 11, 341–347. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674670701292094.
Francis, L. J., Robbins, M., & McKenna, M. (2016). Women’s socio-economic rights and religion among Christian, Islamic, and non-religiously affiliated students in England and Wales. In H.-G. Ziebertz & E. H. Ballin (Eds.), Freedom of religion in the twenty-first century: A human rights perspective on the relationship between politics and religion (pp. 239–256). Leiden: Brill.
Graham, W. (1977). Divine word and prophetic word in early Islam. London: de Gruyter.
Kay, W. K., & Francis, L. J. (1996). Drift from the Churches: Attitude toward Christianity during childhood and adolescence. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
Madigan, D. A. (2001). The Qur’an’s self-image: Writing and authority in Islam’s scripture. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Ok, U., & Eren, S. (2013). Attitudes towards human rights and religiosity: A case of Turkish adolescents. In J. A. van der Ven & H.-G. Ziebertz (Eds.), Human rights and the impact of religion (pp. 145–165). Leiden: Brill.
Sahin, A. (2008). Modern Qur’an studies: A critical assessment. Muslim World Book Review, 33(2), 51–54.
Smith, W. C. (1993). What is scripture? A comparative approach. London: SCM press.
van der Tuin, L. W. J. M., & Fumbo, C. D. (2012). Women rights and religion among Christian and Islamic students in Tanzania. In J. A. van der Ven & H.-G. Ziebertz (Eds.), Tensions within and between religions and human rights (pp. 203–222). Leiden: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004218697_009.
van der Ven, J. A. (2013). Towards a legitimate role of religion in the domain of socioeconomic rights: An empirical study among adolescents in North West European countries. In J. A. van der Ven & H.-G. Ziebertz (Eds.), Human rights and the impact of religion (pp. 167–203). Leiden: Brill.
Village, A. (2016). Encountering the Bible. London: SCM Press.
Webb, R. J., Ziebertz, H.-G., Curran, J., & Reindl, M. (2012). Human rights among Muslims and Christians in Palestine and Germany. In J. A. van der Ven & H.-G. Ziebertz (Eds.), Tensions within and between religions and human rights (pp. 177–201). Leiden: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004218697_008.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Francis, L.J., McKenna, U., Sahin, A. (2020). Religion and Socio-economic Human Rights: An Empirical Enquiry Among Adolescents in England and Wales. In: Ziebertz, HG. (eds) International Empirical Studies on Religion and Socioeconomic Human Rights. Religion and Human Rights, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30934-3_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30934-3_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-30933-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-30934-3
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)