The Effect of Sociology of Religion on the Religiosity of BA Sociology Students from the University of the Philippines Los Baños

This study tested how students’ religiosity as measured by the Sta. Clara Strength of Religious Faith (SCSORF) and the Centrality of Religiosity Scale (CRS) are affected by a semester of taking a class on Sociology of Religion following the Cognitive Dissonance Theory as framework. A survey questionnaire was administered twice to all students of the course after being briefed on the nature of the study. The first run of the questionnaire (pre-test) was done at the start of the semester before the course content was discussed. The second run (post-test) was done at the end of the semester after the course content has been discussed. The mean scores obtained from the pre- and post- tests of the SCSORF and CRS were then analysed through a Paired Samples T-test procedure. All cases with missing data on the pre- and/or post- test scores were omitted pairwise. The results indicate that taking a class on Sociology of Religion caused a significant decrease in students’ religiosity in terms of their cognitive appreciation of religion, private religiosity, and religious conviction. However, despite their religiosity depreciating, these students continue to follow social expectations of public religious performance and are still susceptible to religious experiences.

Keywords: Education, Faith, Religion, Apostasy