Twenty-Fifth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

There have been a number of studies that have looked at how the general population were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Few of these have considered the role of faith. This study used a cross-sectional design with an online questionnaire. A ‘bespoke questionnaire’ was developed for this study by the researcher. It comprised 19 items which looked at attitudes towards the pandemic, answered on a six-point Likert scale. A factor analysis using the Principal Components method with Direct Oblimin Rotation, found a two-factor solution. Factor 1 had 10 items and was labelled, ‘Faith as a protection against COVID-19.’ Factor 2 had 9 items and was labelled ‘Emotional reactions to COVID-19.’ The internal reliability of Factor 1 was .85 and .82 for Factor 2. The individual item with the highest score was Question 3, ‘My religion has guidance relating to positive comments which assist in having a positive outlook on life.’ This had a score of 5.48/6.00. The top seven scoring items were all from Factor 1, showing the importance of faith for this population. Age and gender were not found to have any significant impact on the dependent variables. In response to the three open-ended questions, it was clear that the greatest challenge for this group of people during COVID-19, was not being able to see extended family. In contrast, the greatest benefit, was being able to spend more quality time with immediate family. However, the study shows how important faith was for many people during the pandemic.