Religiosity in Europe: an index, factors, and clusters of religiosity

Abstract

This paper has three aims. The first aim is to measure religiosity across all European countries through an index that combines beliefs, practices, and attitudes. The second aim is to analyse the strength of societal factors on religiosity, including modernisation, communist rule, national identity, religious pluralism, and religious freedom. The final aim is to group European countries by religiosity and to characterise each cluster by dominant religions and these five societal factors. Based on EVS 2008, it was applied multivariate analysis to reach these aims. Cluster 1 is mainly composed of Orthodox, Muslims, and Catholics; cluster 2 of Catholics, Orthodox, and people without religion; cluster 3 by people without religion, Protestants, and Catholics. Across clusters, the degree of human development, religious pluralism, and religious freedom increase, while the degree of national identity decreases. Keywords religiosity, Europe, European Values Study (EVS).Resumo Este artigo tem três objetivos. Primeiro: medir a religiosidade em todos os países europeus através de um índice que combina crenças, práticas e atitudes. Segundo: analisar o impacto de fatores sociais sobre a religiosidade, incluindo a modernização, o regime comunista, a identidade nacional, o pluralismo religioso e a liberdade religiosa. Terceiro: agrupar os países europeus pela religiosidade e caracterizar cada grupo pelas religiões dominantes e por estes cinco fatores sociais. Com base no EVS 2008 aplicou-se uma análise multivariada para atingir estes objetivos. O grupo 1 compõe-se principalmente de ortodoxos, muçulmanos e católicos; o grupo 2 de católicos, ortodoxos e sem religião; o grupo 3 de pessoas sem religião, protestantes e católicos. Observando os grupos, os graus de desenvolvimento humano, pluralismo religioso e liberdade religiosa aumentam enquanto o grau de identidade nacional baixa. Palavras-chave religiosidade, Europa, European Values Study (EVS).Résumé Cet article a trois objectifs. Premièrement : mesurer la religiosité dans tous les pays d'Europe, au moyen d'un indice qui combine croyances, pratiques et attitudes. Deuxièmement : analyser l'impact de facteurs sociaux sur la religiosité, à savoir la modernisation, le régime communiste, l'identité nationale, le pluralisme religieux et la liberté religieuse. Troisièmement : regrouper les pays d'Europe selon la religiosité et caractériser chaque groupe selon les religions dominantes et les cinq facteurs analysés. À partir de l'enquête EVS 2008, une analyse multivariée a été appliquée pour atteindre ces objectifs. Le groupe 1 se composait essentiellement d'orthodoxes, de musulmans et de catholiques ; le groupe 2 de catholiques, d'orthodoxes et de sans religion ; le groupe 3 de personnes sans religion, de protestants et de catholiques. Quand on observe ces groupes, les niveaux de développement humain, de pluralisme religieux et de liberté religieuse augmentent à mesure que le niveau d'identité nationale diminue. Mots-clés religiosité, Europe, enquête sur les valeurs des Europée...

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