2408-9338Research result. Sociology and Management2408-933810.18413/2408-9338-2025-11-2-0-53782SOCIAL STRUCTURE, SOCIAL INSTITUTES AND PROCESSES<strong>The </strong><strong>dynamics</strong><strong>&nbsp;of </strong><strong>religiosity</strong><strong>&nbsp;among </strong><strong>provincial</strong>&nbsp;<strong>students</strong><strong>The </strong><strong>dynamics</strong><strong>&nbsp;of </strong><strong>religiosity</strong><strong>&nbsp;among </strong><strong>provincial</strong>&nbsp;<strong>students</strong>BogatovaOlga AnatolyevnaBogatovaOlga Anatolyevnabogatovaoa@yandex.ruChujkovaOlga ГеннадьевнаChujkovaOlgaNational Research Ogarev Mordovia State University202511200

The&nbsp;article&nbsp;analyzes&nbsp;the main&nbsp;characteristics&nbsp;and&nbsp;trends&nbsp;in the dynamics&nbsp;of religiosity&nbsp;among provincial&nbsp;students&nbsp;using the&nbsp;example&nbsp;of students&nbsp;at National&nbsp;Research&nbsp;Mordovia&nbsp;State&nbsp;University.&nbsp;Based&nbsp;on&nbsp;a comparison&nbsp;of the data&nbsp;from the 2024&nbsp;and&nbsp;2025&nbsp;questionnaires, changes&nbsp;in the level&nbsp;and&nbsp;degree&nbsp;of religiosity&nbsp;are characterized&nbsp;according&nbsp;to the main&nbsp;parameters&nbsp;of the multidimensional&nbsp;approach&nbsp;of C.&nbsp;Glock&nbsp;and&nbsp;R.&nbsp;Stark,&nbsp;the subjective&nbsp;significance&nbsp;of religious&nbsp;norms&nbsp;of behavior&nbsp;is assessed, and the main&nbsp;trends&nbsp;in&nbsp;students&#39; assessment&nbsp;of the role&nbsp;and&nbsp;functions&nbsp;of religion&nbsp;in&nbsp;modern&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;society&nbsp;are identified.&nbsp;The authors&nbsp;of the article&nbsp;characterize&nbsp;the religiosity&nbsp;of students&nbsp;as a&nbsp;whole&nbsp;as&nbsp;&ldquo;fuzzy&rdquo;,&nbsp;privatized&nbsp;and&nbsp;distanced&nbsp;in&nbsp;relation&nbsp;to&nbsp;the institutional&nbsp;forms&nbsp;of religion&nbsp;with&nbsp;which&nbsp;individuals&nbsp;identify&nbsp;themselves&nbsp;on&nbsp;the basis&nbsp;of cultural&nbsp;tradition,&nbsp;and conclude&nbsp;that the&nbsp;identified&nbsp;complex&nbsp;of characteristics&nbsp;of religiosity&nbsp;among&nbsp;students&nbsp;is stable.&nbsp;Despite a slight decrease in religiosity noted by researchers in other regions, religious students as a whole remain above average in terms of faith and experience, while remaining relatively low in terms of ritualistic, intellectual and behavioural dimensions (though not lower than in the region as a whole). In&nbsp;particular,&nbsp;the consistently&nbsp;declared&nbsp;recognition&nbsp;by students&nbsp;of the public&nbsp;role&nbsp;of religion&nbsp;as&nbsp;a social&nbsp;regulator&nbsp;and&nbsp;a means&nbsp;of transmitting&nbsp;cultural&nbsp;values&nbsp;does not&nbsp;give&nbsp;grounds&nbsp;to&nbsp;conclude&nbsp;that&nbsp;it is possible&nbsp;to change&nbsp;their&nbsp;behavior&nbsp;in&nbsp;everyday&nbsp;life&nbsp;through&nbsp;the authority&nbsp;of traditional&nbsp;religions&nbsp;and&nbsp;micro-level relations&nbsp;with&nbsp;their&nbsp;bearers.&nbsp;Using the&nbsp;example&nbsp;of this&nbsp;social&nbsp;category, it is clearly&nbsp;seen&nbsp;how&nbsp;modern&nbsp;believers&nbsp;consider&nbsp;religion&nbsp;not&nbsp;as&nbsp;a set&nbsp;of ready-made prescriptions,&nbsp;but&nbsp;as&nbsp;a guideline&nbsp;for&nbsp;individual&nbsp;moral&nbsp;choice&nbsp;and&nbsp;a means&nbsp;of solving&nbsp;an individual&#39;s existential&nbsp;problems.&nbsp;

The&nbsp;article&nbsp;analyzes&nbsp;the main&nbsp;characteristics&nbsp;and&nbsp;trends&nbsp;in the dynamics&nbsp;of religiosity&nbsp;among provincial&nbsp;students&nbsp;using the&nbsp;example&nbsp;of students&nbsp;at National&nbsp;Research&nbsp;Mordovia&nbsp;State&nbsp;University.&nbsp;Based&nbsp;on&nbsp;a comparison&nbsp;of the data&nbsp;from the 2024&nbsp;and&nbsp;2025&nbsp;questionnaires, changes&nbsp;in the level&nbsp;and&nbsp;degree&nbsp;of religiosity&nbsp;are characterized&nbsp;according&nbsp;to the main&nbsp;parameters&nbsp;of the multidimensional&nbsp;approach&nbsp;of C.&nbsp;Glock&nbsp;and&nbsp;R.&nbsp;Stark,&nbsp;the subjective&nbsp;significance&nbsp;of religious&nbsp;norms&nbsp;of behavior&nbsp;is assessed, and the main&nbsp;trends&nbsp;in&nbsp;students&#39; assessment&nbsp;of the role&nbsp;and&nbsp;functions&nbsp;of religion&nbsp;in&nbsp;modern&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;society&nbsp;are identified.&nbsp;The authors&nbsp;of the article&nbsp;characterize&nbsp;the religiosity&nbsp;of students&nbsp;as a&nbsp;whole&nbsp;as&nbsp;&ldquo;fuzzy&rdquo;,&nbsp;privatized&nbsp;and&nbsp;distanced&nbsp;in&nbsp;relation&nbsp;to&nbsp;the institutional&nbsp;forms&nbsp;of religion&nbsp;with&nbsp;which&nbsp;individuals&nbsp;identify&nbsp;themselves&nbsp;on&nbsp;the basis&nbsp;of cultural&nbsp;tradition,&nbsp;and conclude&nbsp;that the&nbsp;identified&nbsp;complex&nbsp;of characteristics&nbsp;of religiosity&nbsp;among&nbsp;students&nbsp;is stable.&nbsp;Despite a slight decrease in religiosity noted by researchers in other regions, religious students as a whole remain above average in terms of faith and experience, while remaining relatively low in terms of ritualistic, intellectual and behavioural dimensions (though not lower than in the region as a whole). In&nbsp;particular,&nbsp;the consistently&nbsp;declared&nbsp;recognition&nbsp;by students&nbsp;of the public&nbsp;role&nbsp;of religion&nbsp;as&nbsp;a social&nbsp;regulator&nbsp;and&nbsp;a means&nbsp;of transmitting&nbsp;cultural&nbsp;values&nbsp;does not&nbsp;give&nbsp;grounds&nbsp;to&nbsp;conclude&nbsp;that&nbsp;it is possible&nbsp;to change&nbsp;their&nbsp;behavior&nbsp;in&nbsp;everyday&nbsp;life&nbsp;through&nbsp;the authority&nbsp;of traditional&nbsp;religions&nbsp;and&nbsp;micro-level relations&nbsp;with&nbsp;their&nbsp;bearers.&nbsp;Using the&nbsp;example&nbsp;of this&nbsp;social&nbsp;category, it is clearly&nbsp;seen&nbsp;how&nbsp;modern&nbsp;believers&nbsp;consider&nbsp;religion&nbsp;not&nbsp;as&nbsp;a set&nbsp;of ready-made prescriptions,&nbsp;but&nbsp;as&nbsp;a guideline&nbsp;for&nbsp;individual&nbsp;moral&nbsp;choice&nbsp;and&nbsp;a means&nbsp;of solving&nbsp;an individual&#39;s existential&nbsp;problems.&nbsp;

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(2021), The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Europe, Oxford University Press, Oxford.Davie, G. (2007), Vicarious Religion: A Methodological Challenge, Everyday Religion: Observing Modern Religious Lives,&nbsp;ed. by N. T. Ammerman. Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York, 21-35.Glock, C.&nbsp;Y., Stark, R. (1974), American Piety: the Nature of religious Commitment,&nbsp;University of California Press, London, Berkeley and Los Angeles.Hervieu-Leger, D. (2015), &ldquo;Religion as a grammar of memory: reflections on a comparison between Britain and France&rdquo;, Modernities, Memory and Mutations. Grace Davie and the Study of Religion, ed. by&nbsp;A. Day, M. L&ouml;vheim, Routledge, London and New York, 13-29.Stolz, J., K&uuml;nemann, J., Purdie, M.S., Englberger, T., Kr&uuml;ggeler, M. (2016), (Un)Believing in Modern Society. Religion, Spirituality, and Religious-Secular Competition,&nbsp;Routledge, Farnham.Stolz, J., Lipps, O., Voas, D., Antonietti, J.-P. (2024), &ldquo;Can we explain the generation gap in churchgoing?&rdquo;, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion,&nbsp;63(4), 809-829.Fenn, R. K. (ed.) (2003), The Blackwell Companion to Sociology of Religion,&nbsp;Blackwell Publishing, Oxford.Voas, D. (2009), &ldquo;The rise and fall of fuzzy fidelity in Europe&rdquo;, European Sociological Review,&nbsp;25 (2), 155-168.