Do Religious Beliefs Contribute to Social Polarisation?One of the issues of most concern and preoccupation at present is the increase in polarised and increasingly radical positions among citizens. Attitudes that may be related to different variables, and perhaps one of the most interesting to analyse is whether or not there is a link between religious feelings and the ways of adhering to or rejecting different political organisations, depending on whether they are more or less close to one's own beliefs. In order to examine this issue in greater depth, we have used the data obtained in the national survey carried out by the CEMOP research group on the Spanish popula-tion of both sexes aged 18 and over, selected by means of stratified multistage sam-pling. The final conclusion is that there is indeed an affective and emotional polarisation linked to the existence or not of religious beliefs, and that it is the group of practising Catholics who are the most emotionally motivated segment, and therefore the one that shows the greatest degree of polarisation.

Main Article Content

Ana Millán Jiménez
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8195-1729
María Isabel Sánchez-Mora Molina
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5411-9643

Abstract

One of the issues of most concern and preoccupation at present is the increase in polarised and increasingly radical positions among citizens. Attitudes that may be related to different variables, and perhaps one of the most interesting to analyse is whether or not there is a link between religious feelings and the ways of adhering to or rejecting different political organisations, depending on whether they are more or less close to one's own beliefs.


In order to examine this issue in greater depth, we have used the data obtained in the national survey carried out by the CEMOP research group on the Spanish population of both sexes aged 18 and over, selected by means of stratified multistage sampling.


The final conclusion is that there is indeed an affective and emotional polarisation linked to the existence or not of religious beliefs, and that it is the group of practising Catholics who are the most emotionally motivated segment, and therefore the one that shows the greatest degree of polarisation.

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How to Cite
Millán Jiménez, A., & Sánchez-Mora Molina, M. I. (2023). Do Religious Beliefs Contribute to Social Polarisation?One of the issues of most concern and preoccupation at present is the increase in polarised and increasingly radical positions among citizens. Attitudes that may be related to different variables, and perhaps one of the most interesting to analyse is whether or not there is a link between religious feelings and the ways of adhering to or rejecting different political organisations, depending on whether they are more or less close to one’s own beliefs. In order to examine this issue in greater depth, we have used the data obtained in the national survey carried out by the CEMOP research group on the Spanish popula-tion of both sexes aged 18 and over, selected by means of stratified multistage sam-pling. The final conclusion is that there is indeed an affective and emotional polarisation linked to the existence or not of religious beliefs, and that it is the group of practising Catholics who are the most emotionally motivated segment, and therefore the one that shows the greatest degree of polarisation. Cauriensia. Revista Anual De Ciencias Eclesiásticas, 18, 285–304. https://doi.org/10.17398/2340-4256.18.285
Section
Estudios Miscelánea / Miscellaneous Studies
Author Biographies

Ana Millán Jiménez, Universidad de Murcia

Professor of Sociology

Department of Sociology

María Isabel Sánchez-Mora Molina, University of Murcia

Dean of the Faculty of Tourism. University Lecturer. Department of Sociology. Faculty of Economics and Business.

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