THE ROLE OF EXISTENTIAL INSECURITY IN SHAPING RELIGIOSITY: A STUDY OF REFUGEES' PRAYING FREQUENCY

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between violent conflicts and religiosity, aiming to provide robust evidence for the conflict-religiosity hypothesis and the strong version of existential insecurity theory. Previous research has indicated that individuals exposed to violent conflicts tend to exhibit higher levels of religiosity even long after the conflicts have ended. Existential insecurity theory suggests that religious beliefs and practices serve as psychological coping mechanisms for individuals experiencing existential insecurities caused by conflicts. However, the existing evidence for the conflict-religiosity hypothesis is limited due to the potential influence of endogenous selection, where unobserved factors associated with both religiosity and exposure to conflicts may confound the relationship. Furthermore, previous studies have overlooked the specific conditions under which violent conflicts lead to increased adherence to religious norms and coping mechanisms. This study introduces a "weaker" and a "stronger" version of existential insecurity theory to explore these conditions. The weaker version suggests that individuals turn to religion when personally facing existential risks, such as the fear of imminent death on the battlefield. On the other hand, the stronger version posits that individuals' religiosity can increase even when they themselves are not at risk, driven by sociotropic threats and the belief that their in-group members are facing life-threatening risks. To rigorously test these hypotheses, the study employs a natural experiment methodology and utilizes survey data collected from refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria who arrived in Germany between 2013 and 2016. The frequency