Ontwikkeling in de richting van ongodsdienstigheid

Samenvatting

A study conducted in Amsterdam from 1962-1963, to determine to what extent the decline in church membership reflects the degree of religiosity or irreligiosity. F's between 18 & 30 yrs, married, & from 12-29 weeks pregnant for the first time (E= 250) were interviewed 3 times. Characterized as 'religious' were those who were church members, & those who, while not members, professed belief in God. A distinction was drawn between 'active-religious' (those attending church) & 'passivereligious' (those who did not). 'Non-religious' were those who neither belonged to a church nor believed. It was found that: (1) 11.6-26.8% of the parent generation (both parents religious) had not registered their offspring in a church. (2) The % was higher when 1 parent was irreligious. Whether the other parent was active or passive-religious was found to be immaterial. (3) In both parental & present generations, the passive-religious tend to marry irreligious spouses. (4) Irreligiosity is most frequent among the Wc's. It is concluded that a definite deve lopment toward irreligiosity can be detected among the present generation; no counter-acting tendency is evident. A. Chapman.