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Does Religiosity Protect Against War-Related Distress? Evidence from Bosnia and Herzegovina

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 April 2010

Gerd Inger Ringdal  and
Kristen Ringdal
Gerd Inger Ringdal*
Affiliation:
The Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Kristen Ringdal*
Affiliation:
The Norwegian University of Science and Technology
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Gerd Inger Ringdal, Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), NO-7491, Trondheim, Norway. E-mail: gerd.Inger.ringdal@svt.ntnu.no; or to Kristen Ringdal. E-mail: kristen.ringdal@svt.ntnu.no
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Gerd Inger Ringdal, Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), NO-7491, Trondheim, Norway. E-mail: gerd.Inger.ringdal@svt.ntnu.no; or to Kristen Ringdal. E-mail: kristen.ringdal@svt.ntnu.no
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Abstract

The aim of this article is to test two hypotheses on the relationship between religiosity and war-related distress in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The article is based on a representative survey (n = 3,313) in Bosnia and Herzegovina during 2003–2004. The questionnaire included 15 items on war-related distress and 13 items on war experiences. From these items we developed a war-related distress scale, a war experiences scale, and several measures of religiosity. Regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between the war-related distress symptoms on the one hand, and religiosity and war experience on the other hand, controlling for a range of other variables. Religious beliefs and religious stability seem to protect against war-related distress, but religious activity works in the opposite direction to increase war-related distress. In conclusion, we found weak support for the first hypothesis, although the effects of religiosity on war-related distress seem more complex than expected. Our second hypotheses, that religiosity may work as a buffer to dampen the effects of war experiences on war-related distress, found no support.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 3 , Special Issue 2: Post-communist Eastern Europe and the Caucasus , August 2010 , pp. 389 - 405
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2010

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