Religion, Religiosity, and Socio-Political Attitudes in South Korea

• Published in: Korea observer Vol. 45; no. 2; pp. 321 - 348
• Main Author: Choi, Eunjung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Seoul Institute of Korean Studies 01.07.2014; 한국학술연구원
• Subjects: Abortion; Attitudes; Behavior; Buddhism; Christianity; Culture; Denominations; Identification; Korea; Lipset, Seymour Martin; Naming; Political Attitudes; Politics; Psychological factors; Religion; Religions; Religiosity; Religious affiliation; Rokkan, Stein; Social factors; Social theory; Society; South Korea; Spirituality; Traditions; Values; 정치외교학; South Korea; Philippines
• ISSN: 0023-3919; 2586-3053

Despite the fact that religion is an important part of life for many Koreans, not much systematic literature exists investigating the effect of religion and religiosity on the various aspects of social and political orientations. By utilizing a socio-psychological approach that incorporates the "three Bs" of religion - belonging, behaving, and believing - this research investigates how psychological attachment to a religious denomination makes a difference in individuals' socio-political attitudes in South Korea. This article suggests that both self-religious identification and the level of commitment to a religion influence the ways that individuals react to social and political issues. Interestingly, spiritual people without a particular religious affiliation share many social and political attitudes with religious identifiers, thereby confirming that the relationship between religion and individual social and political orientations should be studied from a socio-psychological approach considering the level of religious commitment, rather than from an ethno-religious perspective that emphasizes only the belonging aspect of religion.