Religiosity is a comprehensive sociological term used to refer to the numerous aspects of religious activity, dedication, and belief. Another term that would work equally well, though is less often used, is religiousness. Numerous studies have explored the different components of human religiosity (Hill and Hood 1999). What most have found is that there are multiple dimensions (they often employ factor analysis). For instance, Cornwall, Albrecht, Cunningham and Pitcher (1986) identify six dimensions of religiosity based on the understanding that there are at least three components to religious behavior: knowing (cognition), feeling (affect), and doing (behavior). For each of these components of religiosity there were two cross classifications resulting in the six dimensions: Sociology is the study of the social lives of humans, groups and societies. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... Jump to: navigation, search Look up belief on Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Factor analysis is a statistical technique that originated in psychometrics. ...

• Cognition
  • traditional orthodoxy
  • particularistic orthodoxy
• Affect
  • spiritual
  • church commitment
• Behavior
  • religious behavior
  • religious participation

Other researchers have found different dimensions, ranging generally from four to twelve components. What most measures of religiosity find is that there is at least some distinction between religious belief, religious practice, and spirituality. The word orthodoxy, from the Greek ortho (right, correct) and doxa (thought, teaching), is typically used to refer to the correct theological or doctrinal observance of religion, as determined by some overseeing body. ... Jump to: navigation, search A church building (or simply church) is a building used in Christian worship. ... ...

For example, one can believe in the truthfulness of the Bible (belief dimension), but never attend a church or even belong to an organized religion (practice dimension). Another example might be an individual who does not hold orthodox Christian beliefs (belief dimension), but does attend a charismatic worship service (practice dimension) in order to develop his/her sense of oneness with the divine (spirituality dimension). Finally, an individual could disavow all beliefs associated with organized religions (belief dimension), not affiliate with an organized religion or attend religious services (practice dimension), but believe strongly in a higher power and feel that their connection with that higher power is very meaningful (spirituality dimension). Keep in mind, however, that these are just explanatory examples of the broadest dimensions of religiosity and that they may not be reflected in specific religiosity measures. Jump to: navigation, search The Bible (sometimes The Book, Good Book, Word of God, or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βιβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, plural of βιβλιον, biblion, book, originally a diminutive of βιβλος, biblos, which in turn is derived from βυβλος—byblos, meaning papyrus, from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported this... Jump to: navigation, search As a noun, Christian is an appellation and moniker deriving from the appellation Christ, which many people associate exclusively with Jesus of Nazareth. ... Jump to: navigation, search Charismatic is an umbrella term used to describe those Christians who believe that the manifestations of the Holy Spirit seen in the first century Christian Church, such as healing, miracles and glossolalia, are available to contemporary Christians and ought to be experienced and practiced today. ... Jump to: navigation, search Worship usually refers to specific acts of religious praise, honour, or devotion, typically directed to a supernatural being such as a god or goddess. ... The concept of the divine or of The Divine, meaning matters relating to a god, forms an important ingredient in many religious faiths (but compare Buddhism, for example, or Scientology). ...

It should also be noted that most dimensions of religiosity are correlated, meaning people who often attend church services (practice dimension) are also likely to score highly on the belief and spirituality dimensions. But, and this is the importance of delineating the different components of religiosity, individuals do not have to score high on all dimensions or low on all dimensions; their scores can vary by dimension.

Genes and environment

The contributions of genes and environment to religiosity have been quantified in twin studies (Bouchard et al', 1999; Kirk et al', 1999). Koenig et al (2005) report that the contribution of genes to variation in religiosity (called heritability) increases from 12% to 44%, and the contribution of shared (family) effects decreases from 56% to 18% between adolescence as compared to adulthood. This stylistic schematic diagram shows a gene in relation to the double helix structure of DNA and to a chromosome (right). ... Jump to: navigation, search A twin study is a kind of genetic study done to determine heritability. ... Heritability, as used professionally in genetics, has a very precise definition. ... Jump to: navigation, search Adolescence is the transitional stage of development between childhood and full adulthood, representing the period of time during which a person is biologically adult but emotionally not at full maturity. ... See Adult. ...

References

• Cornwall, M., Albrecht, S.L., Cunningham, P.H., and Pitcher, B.L. 1986. The dimensions of religiosity: A conceptual model with an empirical test. Review of Religious Research, 27:226-244.
• Hill, Peter C. and Hood, Ralph W. Jr. 1999. Measures of Religiosity. Birmingham, Alabama: Religious Education Press. ISBN 089135106X
• Winter T, Kaprio J, Viken RJ, Karvonen S, Rose RJ. Individual differences in adolescent religiosity in Finland: familial effects are modified by sex and region of residence. Twin Res. 1999 Jun;2(2):108-14. PMID: 10480745
• Kirk KM, Eaves LJ, Martin NG. Self-transcendence as a measure of spirituality in a sample of older Australian twins. Twin Res. 1999 Jun;2(2):81-7. PMID: 10480742
• Koenig LB, McGue M, Krueger RF, Bouchard TJ Jr. Genetic and environmental influences on religiousness: findings for retrospective and current religiousness ratings. J Pers. 2005 Apr;73(2):471-88.
• Bouchard TJ Jr, McGue M, Lykken D, Tellegen A. Intrinsic and extrinsic religiousness: genetic and environmental influences and personality correlates. Twin Res. 1999 Jun;2(2):88-98.