Students' perception of marriage, family and parenthood in the light of religious identity and religious tolerance: A comparative perspective

Abstract

ABSTRACT. In a comparative perspective, the paper shows students' attitudes towards family, marriage and parenthood obtained in an empirical study entitled "Cultural orientation of actors/students, interethnic relations, national identity and the culture of peace in the Balkans" on the samples from the University of Bitola, Veliko Tarnovo and Niš. It analyzes findings from the three subsamples, and tests the hypothesis that students' religiousness and the firmness of their religious beliefs predicate their attitudes towards family, marriage and parenthood, irrespective of the country where they study. It is expected that the student youth in all subsamples shows preference for the individualistic model of partnership, symmetrical parenting, egalitarian partner and family relationships, but also that the choice of some attitudes The survey was conducted in December, 2012, in Serbia and January, 2013, in Macedonia and Bulgaria. The sample of 2400 planned respondents was formed through three subsamples with the same number of respondents in regional and university centres. It is a sample of subcluster type, designed so that, at the level of subsamples for each of these university centres, the way of selecting units in each segment of sampling ensures the presence of students with certain socio-demographic characteristics of significance for the tested problem (professional and educational profile, year of study). The presence of groups of respondents with mentioned characteristics and other qualities of interest for research was provided by the procedure of random selection at every stage of sample creation on the one hand, and respecting the proportions relating to the portion of students in some faculty groups and their number in some faculties within groups (Petrović, 2014, p. 13). The research was conducted by means of the survey method, using a questionnaire which covered a range of topics, much wider than Claims used to examine the models of value patterns aiming at marriage, family life and gender relations present a relatively structured family relations. These are the forms of mutual relations among actors within the family structure examined through the attitudes on certain family roles, gender relations within the family, parental roles, and finally, the general attitude towards marriage. Tested views were interpreted as dimensions of family values, with the aim of establishing a preference of students to a particular type of family value matrix and their gender sensitivity as a kind of an indicator of preference of traditional or modern models of marriage and family organization. Bearing in mind previous similar studies, a series of representative claims were selected in order to establish a tendency towards a certain type of family relations, whereby it is assumed that it is possible to identify, so to speak, two ideal-typical models: the traditional onepatriarchal family values and archaic gender stereotypes in its base and the modern one -marked by liberal values and commitment to gender equality (Iv...