Alternative Forms of Religiosity and the Students of the University of Split

Predmet ovog istraživanja bili su alternativni oblici religioznosti, odnosno stavovi studenata spram istih, njihov interes i eventualna praksa. U sklopu teorijskog dijela pojašnjeni su pojmovi religije i religioznosti, a zatim neki od bitnih procesa u kojima je religija glavni akter. Također, prikazane su glavne sociološke teorije o religiji, put nastajanja nove religije, 'nove' religijske svijesti, te konačno, objašnjenje alternativne religioznosti i njenih oblika (praznovjerje i horoskop, ezoterija i okultizam, gnoza, New Age, sinkretizam). Anketnim upitnikom ispitivane su četiri skupine varijabli: (1) sociostrukturna obilježja ispitanika (sociodemografska i socioekonomska obilježja, konfesionalna i religijska identifikacija), (2) vrijednosne, političke orijentacije i vjerske predodžbe ispitanika, (3) stavovi ispitanika o alternativnim oblicima religioznosti, interes i praksa, te posljednje, (4) komunikacijsko-interakcijske varijable. Cilj istraživanja bio je dobiti uvid u stavove studenata Sveučilišta u Splitu o alternativnim oblicima religioznosti, ispitati njihov interes i želju za praksom. Rezultati su pokazali kako ispitanici u pravilu ne pokazuju pozitivne stavove spram alternativnih vjerovanja, kao ni interes za proširivanjem znanja ili želju za praksom.The subject of this study are alternative forms of religiosity, in better words, student attitudes and opinions towards these forms, their interest and eventual practice of the same. Within the theoretical part, concepts of religion and religiosity have been clarified, as well as some of important processes in which religion plays the main role. Also, the main sociological theories of religion are presented, as well as the way of creating a new religion, new religious consciousness, and finally an explanation of alternative religiosity and its forms (superstition and horoscope, esotery and occultism, gnosis, New Age, syncretism). The questionnaire examined four groups of variables: (1) socio-structural characteristics of the respondents (socio-demographic and socio-economic characteristics, confessional and religious identification), (2) political and value orientation as well as religious imagery of respondents, and (3) student attitudes and opinions towards alternative forms of religiosity, interest and practice, (4) communication-interaction variables. The aim of this study was to gain insight into attitudes of students at the University of Split, enquire into their interest and desire for practice. The results showed that respondents in general don't show positive attitudes towards alternative beliefs, nor the interest in expanding knowledge or desire for practice