Religion and Nationalism in Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia – A Structural Equation Model
Religion and Nationalism in Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia – A Structural Equation Model

Author(s): Kjell Magnusson
Subject(s): Sociology, Theology and Religion, Nationalism Studies, Sociology of Religion
Published by: Институт друштвених наука
Keywords: Religion; Nationalism; Ethnic Distance; Dimensions of Religiosity; SEM (Structural Equation Modeling)
Summary/Abstract: The purpose is to discuss the relationship between religiosity, national ideology and ethnic distance, based on a sociological survey undertaken in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia. Religion is regarded as a multidimensional phenomenon, as is nationalism. In accordance with classical theories on nationalism and social identity theory, a distinction is further made between ethnocentrism and nationalism proper. In order to answer the question whether there is an association between on the one hand religion, and on the other nationalism and ethnocentric attitudes, the method of structural equation modeling has been used. An initial model where ethnocentrism is regarded as an independent dimension was compared to an alternative model where it is understood as an integral part of nationalism. The analysis compares both religious traditions (Islam, Catholicism, and Orthodoxy) as well as different cultural and political contexts (Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia).

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