Fourteenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

This research addresses the prevalent negative attitudes of Pakistani university students towards religious minorities (RMs) by investigating the influence of intrinsic, extrinsic, and quest religious orientations. The study comprises two phases: Study-I involves the adaptation and validation of scales for Pakistani-Muslim students, while Study-II analyzes the impact of religious orientations on students’ Socially Distant Attitude towards Religious Minorities (SDATRM). Data for Study-II were collected through an online Google form, employing structural equation modeling (SEM) in Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) for model testing. The results indicate that individuals identifying with extrinsic social and extrinsic personal orientations exhibit significantly higher socially distant attitudes towards RMs. Conversely, intrinsic-oriented individuals are less likely to manifest SDATRM, and high scores in quest religious orientation correlate with lower levels of SDATRM. These findings underscore the pivotal role of religious orientations in shaping attitudes towards RMs, emphasizing the less socially distant attitudes of intrinsic and quest-oriented individuals and the contrasting trend among extrinsically oriented individuals. The consistency of these outcomes with global research highlights the universal nature of the association between religious orientations and attitudes.