RELIGIOZNOST KAO PREDIKTOR VRIJEDNOSNIH ORIJENTACIJA KOD MLADIH.

Researchers in different social sciences long time ago recognized that religion represents a significant and potent source of values in regard to various areas of human life. How religiosity as a multidimensional construct structures value orientations of believers, however, remains to be a question without the answer fairly enough grounded in empirical and systematized data (Schnabel i Grotch, 2015). It is especially so, it seems, in regard to the followers of Islam (Saroglou, Delpierre i Dernelle, 2004). This study aims to examine the way in which various aspects of religiosity, including religious self-identification, religious beliefs and religious practice determine value orientations of the Muslim youth. Research data was collected among sample consisting of 1151 university and high school Muslim students from five cantons at the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. High school students represented 48.7% of the sample, while the rest of the sample was university students from various faculties with 42% being male and 58% female participants. In collecting research data we used Scales of Religious Self-identification, Religious Beliefs and Religious practice respectively (Smajić, 2010) and Scales of Value Orientations (Franc, Šakič i Ivičić, 2002). Results of hierarchical regressions have confirmed that here analyzed dimensions of religiosity to different degrees and according to different patterns structure the studied value orientations. Accordingly, all dimensions of religiosity are statistically significant positive predictors of Conventional Value Orientation (Religious Self-Identification β= .149, Religious Beliefs β= .151, Religious Practice β= .149, for all three predictors p< .001), while Self-fulfilling Orientation is significantly predicted by Religious Beliefs (β= .091, p< .01). We have also found that Religious Practice significantly contributed in predicting Hedonistic Orientation (β= -.119, p< .001). The results have confirmed earlier findings that religious experience significantly shapes value attitudes, but also suggest that the degree and modality of its influence depends on the modality of religious involvement of an individual. These findings have significant theoretical and practical implications in regard to understanding role of religiosity in promoting and preventing attitudes, tendencies and behaviors possibly related to the analyzed value orientations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]