Confessionally-Caused Features of Motivation Among Jews
The problem of religious motivation gives a deeper understanding of the religious identity of believers, the religious values of systems and their coherence, the specifics of socio-psychological interaction. The religious motivation of the Jews is not well understood. The aim of the work is to study the religious motivation of the Jews and identify its specificity. The study is organized as a quantitative measurement using a psychological inventory and questionnaire and subsequent statistical analysis of the results. In our study, we used the model of Stojkovich I. and Mirich J., which reflects the natural connection of factors obtained mathematically on the basis of empirical data. The study was conducted on a sample of 63 Russian-speaking Jews with a strong religious affiliation. We found a high internal motivation for religion, accompanied by sufficient social, or external, motivation, which is a specificity of Judaism. Jews perceive religious affiliation as an important component of their national identity and traditionalism. For them religion is a source of emotional well-being, ideals and morality, a means of fulfilling desires. We also found a close consistency between understanding religion as a source of fulfilling desires and traditionalism and a source of morality and spiritual well-being.
1. Deci E. L., Ryan R. M. The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits : Human needs and the self-determination of behavior // Psychological Inquiry. 2000. Vol. 11. P. 227–268.
2. O’Connor B. P., Vallerand R. J. Religious motivation in the elderly : A French-Canadian replication and an extension // Journal of Social Psychology. 1990. Vol. 130. Р. 53–59.
3. Assor A., Cohen-Malayev M., Kaplan A., Friedman D. Choosing to stay religious in a modern world: Socialization and exploration processes leading to an integrated internalization of religion among Israeli Jewish youth // Motivation and Religion. 2005. Vol. 14. P. 105–150.
4. Sapritskaya M. From Evrei to Iudei: Turning or Returning to Faith? Gosudarstvo Religiia Tserkov v Rossii i Zarubezhom [State Religion and Church in Russia], 2015, vol. 3, iss. 33, рр. 224–254 (in Russian).
5. Khukhlayev O. Ye., Kuznetsov I. M. Nationalism as a socio-psychological phenomenon: to pose a question. Akmeologiya [Acmeology], 2008, vol. 4, iss. 28, pp. 111–118 (in Russian).
6. Silverman G. S., Johnson K. A., Cohen A. B. To believe or not to believe, that is not the question: The complexity of Jewish beliefs about God // Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. 2016. Vol. 8, iss. 2. P. 119–130. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000065
7. Stojkovic I., Miric J. Construction of a Religious Motivation Questionnaire // Psihologija. 2012. Vol. 45, iss. 2. P. 155–170.
8. Shved Z. V. The concept of “holistic man” on the path of mastering freedom in Judaism. Vіsnik Kiїvskogo natsіonalnogo unіversitetu іmenі Tarasa Shevchenka [Bulletin of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv], 2010, no. 7, iss. 99, рр. 37–40 (in Ukrainian).
9. Yasin M. I. Vaishnava’s Internal Religious Motivation. Izv. Saratov Univ. (N. S.), Ser. Philosophy. Psychology. Pedagogy, 2017, vol. 17, iss. 1, рр. 100–103 (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.18500/1819-7671-2017-17-1-100-103
10. Yasin M. I. Orthodox Christian’s Intrinsic Religious Motivation. Izv. Saratov Univ. (N. S.), Ser. Philosophy. Psychology. Pedagogy, 2018, vol. 18, iss. 4, рр. 463–467 (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.18500/1819-7671-2018-18-4-463-467