Religiosity as a Mechanism to Control Delinquent Behaviour of School Students

Delinquent behaviour among school students is a great concern of governments and educational institutions. Although the authorities and civil society organisations have tried to control the growing trend of school violence, antisocial behaviour among students is significantly increasing. The low delinquency rate among school students in Shah Alam, a city closed to the Malaysian capital, inspired the researchers to explore the association between religiosity and delinquent behaviour. The objective of this study is to explore the relationship between religiosity and the delinquent behaviour of school students. This research employed a mixed method to collect the data. An instrument consisting of 101 questions prepared based on the Muslim Religiosity–Personality Inventory (MRPI) was administrated to measure the level of religiosity. A total of 107 secondary school students (58 boys, 49 girls) aged 13 to 14 years participated in the data collection. A semi-structured interview was used to collect the data from four school counsellors and discipline teachers to examine the relationship between religiosity and delinquency. This research found a moderate level of religiosity among students in Shah Alam while having an inverse relationship between religiosity and delinquency. The researchers, therefore, recommend religiosity as a successful mechanism to control delinquency among school students.

[The Religiosity of Muslim Who Participates in Tauhidic Science Education] Religiositi Bagi Murid Muslim Aliran Sains Yang Mengikuti Pendidikan Sains Secara Tauhidik

This article discusses the findings of a study that measures the level of religiosity of students who participated in a tauhidic science education program for six months. The study aims to gauge the worldview and personality of students after being exposed with science education interdisciplinary with Islamic religious education. This study employs the set of Muslim Religiosity Personality Index (MRPI). Based on the findings of this study, this group of students has a moderate level of Islamic Worldview, but high Religious Personality. The findings of this study provide information about the religious experience among students based on the program in which they have enrolled. Keywords: Religiosity, MRPI, worldview, personality, Islamic Science Abstrak Artikel ini membincangkan dapatan kajian yang mengukur tahap religiositi murid yang mengikuti program pendidikan Sains secara tauhidik selama enam bulan. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk memahami tahap pandangan hidup dan personaliti murid yang mengikuti pendidikan Sains secara inter disiplin dengan pendidikan agama Islam. Kajian ini menggunakan set Muslim Religiosity Personality Index (MRPI). Berdasarkan dapatan kajian, kumpulan murid ini mempunyai tahap Islamic Worldview yang sederhana, namun Religious Personality yang tinggi. Dapatan kajian ini memberikan maklumat tentang pengalaman beragama dalam kalangan murid dan berkenaan program yang telah dijalankan. Kata Kunci: Religiositi, MRPI, pandangan hidup, Personaliti, Sains Islam

The Relationship Between Afterlife Beliefs and Mental Wellbeing Among Jordanian Muslim Youth

Despite the centrality of afterlife reward and punishment beliefs in the religious life of Muslims, few empirical studies have sought to understand how such beliefs affect the psychological state and social behavior of Muslims. Past scant related studies have concluded that these beliefs are unhealthy, because they are positively associated with anxiety and death anxiety. This finding contradicts a central notion in Islamic theology, which states that avoiding afterlife punishment and obtaining afterlife reward is the primary motive for Muslim religiosity. The current study attempts to deepen our understanding of how Islamic afterlife reward and punishment beliefs affect the psychological state of Muslims. The study suggests that the influence of Islamic afterlife beliefs on well-being can be better understood from the perspective of meaning management theory as well as through the eudaimonistic tradition of well-being. This study has two goals: To develop the Islamic Afterlife Reward and Punishment Beliefs (IARPB) scale, and to examine the relationship between IARPB and Muslim religiosity, death anxiety, death acceptance and integrity. Data were collected from Jordanian university students (N = 605). Exploratory and confirmatory analyses support the construct validity of the IARPB Scale. IARPB positively predicted Muslim religiosity, death anxiety, death acceptance, and integrity. Results of ad hoc analysis indicated that IARPB suppresses death anxiety and amplifies death acceptance by increasing Muslim religiosity. In general, the results indicate a positive relationship between IARPB and the psychological state of Muslims. The limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Relationship of Muslim Religiosity and Death Anxiety with the Mediating Effect of Optimism and Depression Among Cancer Patients

Optimism and the practice of any religion are known to reduce depression and anxiety in cancer patients; however, in the present study, the specific role of Muslim religiosity, optimism, depression, and death anxiety in cancer patients has been explored. The sample of this study consists of 200 cancer patients from different hospitals of the districts Faisalabad and Lahore (Pakistan). The sample's average age was 26.6 years. Parallel mediation findings show that optimism and depression are significant mediators between Muslim religiosity and death anxiety among cancer patients. Muslim religiosity is positively associated with optimism, and it helps to decrease the level of death anxiety, while depression is negatively associated with Muslim religiosity, and high depression increases the death anxiety level of cancer patients. In conclusion, Muslim religiosity and optimism play significant roles in managing depressive symptoms and death anxiety among cancer patients.

Impact of Perceived Severity of COVID-19 (SARS-COV-2) on Mental Health of University Students of Pakistan: The Mediating Role of Muslim Religiosity

Background: Perceived severity of COVID-19 (SARS-COV-2) is known to be associated with mental health of people in general and health professionals in particular in Western societies. However, its association with the mental health of students in Pakistan, which is predominantly a Muslim society, remains unclear so far. Moreover, the role of Muslim religiosity for such an association has not yet been investigated. We aimed to examine the association and report findings on the impact of perceived severity on mental health with a sample of students from all five provinces of Pakistan.Methods: We did a cross-sectional online survey from 1,525 Pakistani students in March 2020 using standardized measurement tools. We then determined the prevalence of perceived severity among students and its impact on their mental health. The strength of associations between these variables was estimated using generalized linear models, with appropriate distribution and link functions. Structural equation modeling through SmartPLS (3.0) software was utilized to analyze the results.Findings: The perceived severity of COVID-19 is significantly associated with mental health of Pakistani students, whereas Muslim religiosity is a strong mediator between perceived severity and mental health of Pakistani students.Conclusions: Though the perceived severity of COVID-19 is associated with mental health, this relationship can be better explained by the role of Muslim religiosity. When tested individually, the perceived severity accounted for only 18% variance in mental health that increased up to 57% by the mediating role of Muslim religiosity. This difference clearly indicates the mediating role of Muslim religiosity in the association between perceived severity and mental health for Pakistani students.

Changes in Religiosity during Adolescence among European Children of Immigrants: Towards or Away from the Mainstream

Immigration theorists argue that religion in Europe is a source of social cleavage, a “bright boundary” separating Muslim immigrants from non-Muslims (Alba 2005; Zolberg and Woon 1999). This dynamic can lead to salient religious identities and subsequent heightened religiosity. I use latent growth analysis to model changes in religiosity in early adolescence using the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey of Four European Countries. Even as they secularize, I find that Christian children of immigrants assign more importance to religion compared to natives, a difference that does not decrease over time. Muslim children of immigrants are not only more attached to religion but participate more in religious communities over time, diverging from other second-generation immigrants. However, Muslim religiosity does not impede engagement with the mainstream, but may instead foster the development of a Muslim European pan-ethnic identity.

Religion and Voting Behavior: Evidence from the 2017 Jakarta Gubernatorial Election

In voting behavior studies, the effect of religion on partisan choice relative to psychological factors and political economy has not been conclusively determined. In Indonesian politics, religion has frequently been understood as a typology of Muslim religiosity, i.e. santri versus abangan, or orthodox versus heterodox Muslim. This conception does not significantly predict election outcomes. The effect of religious identity, i.e. Islam versus other religion, on voting is not discernable so far because it has not been systematically tested. The 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election is a rare instance in which the contestants have different religious identities in an almost homogenous society. This setting is ideal. This essay reports the results of a test from public opinion surveys prior to and an exit poll on election day. The result verified that religion explains very significantly how the Muslim candidate won. Political economy and partisanship, however, save the incumbent from a big loss. These findings have more systematically revised the existing comparative and Indonesian literature on the relationship between religion and voting behavior.[Dalam studi perilaku memilih, perbandingan pengaruh agama, faktor psikologis, maupun ekonomi politik, terhadap pilihan partai atau calon dalam pemilihan umum belum konklusif. Dalam politik Indonesia, agama sering difahami dalam tipologi keberagamaan santri versus abangan, atau Muslim puritan versus Muslim sinkretis. Konsepsi agama ini tidak punya pengaruh signifikan terhadap perilaku memilih dalam pemilihan umum sejauh ini. Sementara itu pengaruh identitas agama, yakni Islam versus agama lainnya, terhadap perilaku memilih sejauh ini juga tidak banyak terlihat karena belum teruji secara sistematik. Pemilihan gubernur DKI Jakarta 2017 adalah contoh kasus langka di Indonesia di mana calon-calon gubernurnya punya identitas agama berbeda sementara pemilihnya hampir homogen dilihat dari identitas agamanya. Keadaan ini ideal untuk menguji pengaruh identitas agama terhadap perilaku memilih. Artikel ini merupakan laporan hasil uji perbandingan pengaruh identitas agama, faktor psikologis, dan ekonomi-politik pada perilaku memilih gubernur, dan bersandar pada data survei opini publik sebelum dan di hari pemilihan. Hasilnya membuktikan bahwa identitas agama sangat mempengaruhi bagimana calon gubernur beragama Islam menang dalam pemilihan tersebut. Namun demikian, pengaruh ekonomi-politik dan identitas kepartaian menolong petahana yang non-Muslim dari kekalahan telak. Temuan-temuan ini merevisi referensi studi politik perbandingan dan Indonesia terkait hubungan agama dan perilaku memilih.]

Muslim religiosity, generational cohorts and buying behaviour of Islamic financial products

© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016. This study examines the effects of the interplay between various aspects of religiosity, generational cohorts and buying attitude on Muslim consumers’ purchase intention of Islamic financial products. Based on data collected from 1263 Muslim consumers in Bangladesh, the findings broadly support the proposed conceptual model that buying attitude acts as a mechanism that transforms religiosity dimensions of Muslims into purchase intention and that the Muslim religiosity–buying attitude–purchase intention relationship is moderated by generational cohorts. The unbundling of the religiosity construct provides a deeper understanding of how the mediating (buying attitude) and moderating (generational cohorts) relationships vary across various religiosity dimensions.