Differences in Religious Socialisation across Generations

Religious socialisation has been an important issue for many foreign authors. In their analysis, they use (in addition to domestic research data) data containing information about national units which are obtained from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) 2008: Religion III. The topic of religious socialisation is beginning to attract attention even within Czech professional discourse. The article builds on existing approaches and focuses on the circumstances of religious socialisation in the Czech Republic. It deals with the degree of intergenerational transmission of religious ideas. The aim is to evaluate the form of religious worldview within the main age groups of the Czech population and their parents. During the interpretation of the fi ndings, the results of a representative survey (carried out from December 2015 to January 2016 among the population of the Czech Republic aged 15 and older in the range of 522 respondents) were used. The data obtained enabled a comparison of the shifts in faith


Introduction
Th e issue of religious socialisation is at the centre of the attention of many foreign authors. Th eir approaches, though, completely diff er from contentual and methodological points of view. Some pay attention to the progress of socialisation within a particular society 1 or focus on the process of adopting religions in diff erent countries. 2 Some notice the main socialisation factors associated with the infl uence of parents, 3 while others approach complexly to circumstances explaining religious socialisation. 4 In their analysis, they use (in addition to domestic research data) information about national units obtained from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) 2008: Religion III. Th e topic of religious socialisation is also beginning to attract attention within Czech professional discourse 5 , and the focus is on intergenerational and intragenerational transmission of religious beliefs in the Czech Republic and in surrounding countries. Th e presented article builds on the approaches that characterise the forms of religiosity and non -religiosity of Czech society and focuses on the circumstances of religious socialisation in the Czech Republic. It deals with the degree of the intergenerational transmission of religious ideas. Th e aim is to assess the form of religious worldview within the Czech population and the trends connected with it and to fi nd answers to the research question, i.e., what the role is of parental religious socialisation in the adoption of religious faith. During the interpretation of our fi ndings, the results of a representative survey of Czech population (realised between December 2015 and January 2016) were used.

Th e Th eoretical Approaches to Religious Socialisation
Th e starting point for the application of the socialisation processes (in the area of religion in the Czech Republic) is the idea that 'Czechs are far less non-religious than they would seem at fi rst sight' . 6 Most Czechs do not belong to any churches, do not attend religious services, and do not trust religious organisations. On the other hand, however, they are familiar with belief in so called supernatural power, magic. 7 We rely on the theory of secularisation, which is based on reducing the importance of religion in society. It is characterised by structural diff erentiation, rationalisation, pluralism, and the loss of the dominant integration function of religion. In other words, by changing the way in which religion operates and by changing the place of religion in society. 8 Th e defi nition of socialisation itself (which can be characterised as a process through which the same or similar values, norms, ideas, practices, beliefs, practical steps are passed from one generation to the next in order to enable the incoming members to participate in the ordinary life of society) is the basis for understanding its religious form. Socialisation in its broadest sense means integrating individuals into an existing social structure, while transmission and internalisation are the core of this process. 9 Berger and Luckmann were dealing with the most general circumstances of socialisation when they characterised three intermediary parts contributing to its realisation. Signifi cant others, usually parents, are the fi rst agents who mediate social reality to the child/children, lead them towards the adoption of values, roles, norms, and present the world in a comprehensible form. A child later comes into contact with other children, peers, the wider family, and his or her surroundings, and expands his or her understanding of social reality. Such knowledge is essential for the child. He or she realises that the meanings important to his or her parents are considered equally important for other members of society. Th e impact of the wider surroundings represents the infl uence of less important others for the child. Both authors combine the functioning of these factors (in the process of internalisation) with a factor that allows the continuation of identifi cation with the general others, i.e., with society. Th ese socialisation circumstances are crucial because they involve the internalisation of society, respectively the social structure. 'Not only the content of socialisation but also the degree of its success is determined by socio-structural conditions and has socio-structural consequences. ' 10 Some of the authors leave aside the wider understanding of socialisation and focus especially on the role of parents and the family in the process of religious socialisation, 11 that is, on the importance of the religious homogeneity of both parents. 12 German experts remain in a more general context and perceive socialisation as a complex process, taking place in the background of four connected areas. 13 Personality with its dispositions is the starting point of the whole process, which immediately initiates individual interactions.
Socialisation is taking place continuously through personal contacts, direct communication face to face with other individuals, parents, in a specifi c family environment. Th ese interactions with increasing age oft en take place in specifi c social institutions such as kindergarten, school, free time activities groups, peer groups, ecclesial community, etc., and constitute the third area of socialisation. Religious orientation is not formed only by the mind and behaviour of parents, but also by the environment in which people live, their friends, peer informal groups, teachers, and life counterparts. 14 Society itself as a whole, which also infl uences the process of socialisation through its specifi c economic, political, social and cultural structures, is considered to be the fourth area. Th e interconnection between the four spheres is hierarchical in nature, which means that micro -level relations (respectively in the fi rst two areas, individual and group) are infl uenced by the macro-level (created by institutions and society). Th e weakening of a traditional religious education of a child by social and cultural development at the macro level is one of the expressions of these links 15 and this is manifested, for example, by an expanding individualisation, by a form of moral individualism as a result of the decreasing importance of traditional authority, 16 or by identifi cation with the process of rationalisation manifested by an increasing level of education and the use of urbanisation. 17 Th e reluctance of people to participate in religious life is explained by the functioning of these factors. 18 Coleman claims that rapid economic and social changes over the last few decades have led to diff erences in young people's thinking and understanding (compared to their parents) in areas such as work, family, gender issues, and sex, 19 and this also applies to the subject of religion. 20 Th e scope of mass culture and the intensity of its infl uence (unimaginable several decades ago) also supports the idea of a less signifi cant impact of religion on the young generation compared to their parents. Th is may lead to tensions between the two generational groups in a religious environment. 21 In connection with the decline in religiosity, both the role of age groups and time periods are considered. Evidence suggests that belonging to an age group appears to be more important than the action of specifi c events or circumstances at diff erent times. 22 As a result, more religiously oriented generations are replaced by younger, less religiously infl uenced groups. Both beliefs and religious affi liation (believing and belonging) are decreasing to the same extent, which is completely contrary to the arguments of Davie 23 and others. 24 Many studies of religious socialisation carried out in countries with diff erent religiosity and religious backgrounds conclude that the infl uence of the socialising eff orts of parents is diminishing and competing with other socialising factors, beginning with the environment outside one's family and ending with economic, social, and cultural changes. Th e current result of religious so-7 2017 cialisation in the Czech Republic and the development of the situation in this direction will be indicated in further parts of this article.

Methodology and Data
Th e Czech authors, similar to some foreign ones, used international data from 2008 when analysing religious socialisation. Our approach was diff erent. We used the data from a representative survey of the Czech population aged 15 years and older, 25 (carried out by the Social Sciences Club, entitled Th e Infl uen ce of the Scope of Human Values and One's Worldview on Decisionmaking). Th ere were 522 respondents included in the survey. Eighty interviewers from the Social Science Club's trained network conducted data collection between December 2015 and January 2016, based on quota selection and standardised interviews. Th e determiners for respondents were gender, age, education, the size of place of residence, and region. One of the topic areas focused on social and political theses related to the worldview of the respondents and their everyday life issues. Th is conceptualised content enabled (through the following variables) to also analyse religious feelings and thoughts, and circumstances of religious socialisation. As an indicator of religious belief, we considered the answer to the question: 'How important is faith in God to you? Very important, partly important, unimportant' . Th e degree of religiosity was captured through consent or disagreement with the statement: 'Religion is the salvation of mankind. I agree totally; I agree partly; I disagree; I do not know' presented on the piece of paper. Another statement: 'I believe in supernatural powers. Yes, always; yes, sometimes; No, I do not' mapped the alternative religiosity of the respondents. Th e operationalised variable, referring to the concept of the essence of the world, was formulated as follows: 'You believe that the world has a materialistic nature, is governed by natural laws, or has a spiritual essence, is controlled by God or other supernatural powers, or you do not know' . Two separate queries followed the degree of religious orientation of the father and mother of the questioned participants in the following wording: 'Is it possible to say that your mother (father) has been or is a believer? Yes; partly; no' . Comparing the answers to the last two questions within the basic age groups (i.e., the younger generation, the younger middle generation, the older generation and the oldest generation), is the basis for assessing the socialisation of religious ideas in a similar way to other authors. 26 Faith in God in the questioned ones and the beliefs of both parents were surveyed nationwide also in 1991. It was a piece of research for the Czechoslovak Bible Society, sponsored by the World Bible Society and carried out in March 1991 at IVVM Prague. A group of citizens of the Czech Republic aged 15 and older, out of a number of 1961 respondents, was chosen by the method of quota selection with controlled characteristics (gender, age, size of place of residence, region, and economic activity). Th e selection for the current research was conducted in the same way and with the same controlled characters, except for economic activity, which was replaced by education. Th e evaluation of individual aspects of religion and the degree of religious orientation of parents have been connected with the infl uence of subjective circumstances. Th e results of data comparisons between 1991 and 2016 (between age groups) were considered to be the consequence of objective circumstances. Cases where at least one of the parents was considered to be partially 7 2017 believing and the respondent recognised belief in God as at least partly as important were considered to be a religious transfer. Th e reproduction of unbelief was observed in a group with both unbelieving parents following the lack of faith in God in regard to the respondent's attitude. Th e state was refl ected as a deconversion if (at least) one of the parents was at least partially considered a believer and (at the same time) belief in God was not important to the respondent him/herself. Th e situation in which the respondent considered belief in God to be very or partly important while both parents were unbelievers we call conversion. It is certainly necessary to draw attention to the limits of the study. Th e fi rst is that the six variables indicate religious worldview and allow a partial, indicative analysis of each age group. Another limiting factor is the size of the representative set. Yet, the tendencies given by us may be worthwhile in their next possible verifi cation. 27 Th e topic of religion and non-religion is presented in the following section.

Th e Extent of Religious and Non-Religious Worldviews
One of the aims of the study is to characterise the current expansion of the religious worldview in the Czech Republic and, in connection with this, to show the circumstances of religious socialisation, and the degree of generational transfer of religious and non-religious ideas and views. Th e interpretation of the block of questions indicating religiosity within the population of the Czech Republic and individual age groups seems to us to be the most eff ective. First, we introduce the layout of each aspect of religious orientation.

2017
supernatural powers is the most widespread. It is perceived by virtually a third of the population.
At least approximately two-fi ft hs of those under the age of 29 sometimes believe in it, but (on the other hand) only just over a quarter of those aged 60 and older do so. Th e situation is diff erent in terms of belief in God. Th e smallest number of consistent and most reluctant answers is amongst the young generation. For some, it may be surprising that older middle-aged people represent the age group with the greatest importance of belief in God and at the same time with the least disagreement. A third of 45-59 year-olds gives greater or lesser importance to faith in God. Th e expression of relationship to institutionalised forms of religion is the answer to the question about the role of religion in the salvation of mankind. Th e least agreeing and most disagreeing answers are expressed by members of the oldest generation of 60 and older. In this age group, the most likely infl uence is pre-November 1989 antireligious propaganda. However, the closest age group of 45-59 years old respondents expressed the most support for religion (one tenth) and the least disagreements (less than two-thirds). Aft er 1989, this group formed a signifi cant part of the emerging young generation, and its attitudes were formed on the basis of religious freedom (i.e., not only under the infl uence of antireligious activities of the previous regime).
A complementary view of religious attitudes provides answers to the question about the essence of the world, listed in Table 2. Th e materialistic view of the world prevails in the Czech population with more than half of the share. However, there are diff erences between age groups. Diff erences by age in previous responses are also confi rmed by the given fi ndings.  Table 3. Th e data in the table can be evaluated from two points of view: a) to compare the diff erences between the age groups for each surveyed period, b) to analyse the answers in accordance with time and within the age groups.

Th e Course of Religious Socialisation
Th e previous topic of the objective conditions of religious socialisation will be supplemented by the characteristics of the background for family religious socialisation. Th e assumptions of religious socialisation have been pursued in research through the testimony of the faith of each parent separately. Th e interpretation process will be the same as in the previous section, and we analyse responses across the population and subsequently in each age group. Th e data, in our opinion, indicates the conditions of primary religious socialisation for individual generations. Virtually every one fi ft h of our respondents has or had a genuinely religious mother. More than half of mothers are non-believing in the Czech Republic. Th e younger middle-aged generation gives a picture about, relatively speaking, the smallest number of mothers believing and (at the same time) the highest number of non-believing mothers is stated. Th e number of believing mothers in other age groups is on the rise and the proportion of non-believing mothers is decreasing. It is only natural that the most signifi cant number of believers and the lowest share of unbelieving mothers is within the circle of the oldest generation. Th e 'special' part consists of the mothers of the youngest respondents. When compared to the nearest age group, the share of believing mothers is higher by 1 percentage point, and (at the same time) the representation of non-believing mothers is lower by 5 percent. Although these are not statistically signifi cant diff erences with respect to sample size, the data may signal changes that occur in the perception of faith and religion even in parenting generations. Th e share of believing fathers is generally lower than that of believing mothers. Every ninth father belongs to the circle of believers and almost three quarters to the non-believers category. Th e representation of the faithful fathers increases with the increasing age of the respondents, but not signifi cantly (a total of 6 percentage points). Th e largest number of unbelieving fathers occurs in the age group of 30-44 years (three quarters). Older generations have fewer. Th e representation of non-believing fathers is 1 percentage point lower for young people under the age of 29 in comparison with the following age cohort. A slight diff erence may suggest a change in the current trend concerning the attitude towards the spiritual dimension of human life in the environment of the older middle generation of parents. Diff erences in the importance of the respondent's faith and the belief of mother and father illustrate a greater closeness to fathers' belief than to mothers' belief. Looking more closely at the identity of the faith of both parents, it is clear that religiously oriented families in the Czech Republic are 7%, non-religious oriented form more than half (54%), and at least partly religiously oriented form almost two fi ft hs (39%). It is possible to repeat that the least religious (4%) and most non-religious (61%) are parents of the younger middle generation (30-44 year-old people). Th ose who are 60 and over themselves had mothers and fathers with the most religious orientation.

2017
It is reaffi rmed that among the parents of the youngest respondents there is 1 percentage point more believers than in the group of parents in the next age group and, at the same time, by 10 percentage points less than the non-believers. Th ere is one other comparison, being that of parents' beliefs in 1991 and 2016 with the great importance of belief in God given by the respondents themselves. Th e following table compares the belief of the respondent and his or her mother in the age groups in the given years. Diff erences between the faith of the respondents and their mothers in each age group, as well as the diff erences in mothers' beliefs aft er 25 years, are indicated in the table. Today's young generation is diff erent from its mothers by 7 percentage points, the younger middle generation by 2 percent, the older middle generation by 8 percent, and the oldest by 19 percentage points. Th e diff erences between the 60 year-old and older respondents and their mothers are the most striking. A gradual increase in the diff erences was noted in the survey of the share of believing mothers in generations today and 25 years ago. Th e smallest inequalities are in the younger generation (by 10 percentage points) and the most signifi cant among the oldest (by 40 percentage points). Changes concerning the respondent's and his/her father's faith are mentioned analogously. Th e data is presented in Table 5. Th e beliefs of today's respondents show fewer diff erences towards their fathers' beliefs than towards the mothers' beliefs. Th e diff erence of 2 percentage points is in the youngest age group, the other two age cohorts are the same, and in the oldest age group the diff erence is 4 percentage points.
Diff erences between the years 1991 and 2016 (namely between the age groups), however, with the increasing age of respondents, are increasing. In the youngest generations, the fathers' belief dec-7 2017 lined by 9 percentage points over the 25 years. On the other hand, in the generation of 60-year-old and older participants, the fathers' belief declined by 40 percentage points.
To illustrate the diff erences found, we present the results of the factor analysis with the six already used variables. We use Principal component analysis (PCA). Th e results are given in Table 7. Th e two strongest components (explaining a total of 60% dispersal of the six variables) proved to be the most important. Th e two variables are the importance of the respondent's faith and his or her father's belief.
Th e latest data will refer to religious transmission between parents and children in the form of religious and non-religious reproduction, deconversion, and conversion in each age group. Th ose more or less accepting the faith of both their parents make up a quarter of the population in the Czech Republic. More than two fi ft hs do not believe in the same way as their parents, one quarter of respondents separate themselves from the religious belief of their parents, and 6% of 7 2017 today's people (at least partially believing in God) were brought up by non-believing parents. 29 Trends that emerged in the previous fi ndings were also refl ected in the table above. Th e reproduction of faith takes place in the two younger age groups giving the result of one fi ft h of respondents. We see transmissions for more than a quarter of respondents in the two older age groups. Th e diff erence between the age groups with the lowest and highest reproduction rates is 8 percentage points. Th e reproduction of disbelief is most striking in the age group of 15-29 years, covering more than one half of this part. Similarly, it is also in the category of the younger middle generation. Th e reproduction of disbelief is least among the older middle generation (less than two-fi ft hs). Th e proportion of deconverted people is lower in younger age groups (around one fi ft h) and higher in the elderly (approaching one third). Lužný demonstrates this process on the results of qualitative research in Česká Lípa and Mikulov. Although a large number of people from the highly religious Slovak regions moved to Česká Lípa, these people did not engage in local religious life. On the contrary, young people from Mikulov lose their original religious interest aft er leaving their home to gain education, work. In the new environment, they were not interested in religious life. Th ere may be a trend that Lužný calls the lack of interest and indiff erence, a condition that is 'perhaps even more cautious than if negative attitudes to traditional religion prevailed' . 30 Religious conversion is very uneven. Th e lowest is among those 60 and older. Th e second lowest share of converts is recorded among the youngest. Th e most converts are among the younger generation of aged 30-44, with almost a tenth of them (9%). In the older middle generation, conversion occurs more oft en than in the oldest and youngest age group.

Refl ection on the Results
Th e Czech Republic is still considered to be one of the most secularised countries. Th is is documented by a number of sets of empirical data. 31 Giving the religious manifestations examined, faith in supernatural powers takes the most obvious position. Virtually one third of the population recognises their impact. Younger age groups -more so than older -believe in these powers more oft en than in God. Th is is more than two fi ft hs in the circle of young people, 32 and in the younger middle generation of up to 44 years it is more than a third. Th e older middle generation, which had belonged to the youth group in the 1990s, represents the largest part of those for whom faith in God is either partly or very important and, also, this generation most oft en appreciates the role of religion for humanity. Th e oldest respondents, including those born in 1956 and earlier, represent a generation which sees all the aspects of religion examined as the least important. Th eir attitudes are closer to younger generations. Th e acquired knowledge about generations corresponds in some way to the fi ndings from the qualitative research of religious life in Hlučínsko. 'Some of the fi rst generation think that while their children (second generation) do not go to church and do not practice their faith, their grandchildren, the third generation, are returning to faith. ' 33 Th e temporal comparison of the faith of the respondents and the beliefs of parents over the last 25 years has enabled us to monitor the extent to which today's religious orientation has been infl uenced by the pre-1989 regime and (on the other hand) by the situation associated with the renewal of capitalism and democracy. Comparing the same generational groups 25 years ago and today suggests that the category of the oldest experienced the greatest decline in the importance of faith in God (by 33 percentage points). In 1991, the diff erence between the two age groups furthest apart was 29 percentage points, and now it is 7 percentage points. Th e boundaries of the importance of belief (in the understanding of various age groups) are being wiped out over the period under consideration, and the age cohorts are homogenised in this respect. Due to the generational exchange, the proportion of believers amongst the elders has reached the same point as the number of believers in other age groups. One signifi cant change has occurred over the past years: the oldest respondents today are not the most religious, and this position has been taken over by the older middle-aged generation up to 59 years of age. Th e parents' belief off ers a complementary look at the generational background of the respondents. Th e share of completely and partly believing parents in the age range from young to older middle generations is rising from 47% to 63%. In the range of 60 year-old and older people, this is 59%. Th is fact has had a diff erent eff ect on religious orientation, as illustrated by previous results.
In the youngest age group, the most prolifi c reproduction of unbelief occurs. Th e younger middle generation converts the most oft en. In the environment of the older middle generation, disbelief is reproduced the least, but the proportion of deconverts is higher than in younger age groups. Among the oldest respondents, faith was most oft en reproduced, but conversions are the least frequent. Th e results obtained from today's point of view probably do not agree with Nešpor and his opinion. According to that, (in Czech society as a whole) the communist struggle against religion between 1948-89 ended successfully, by de-Churching society. 34 It is certainly possible to speak about such a success when looking at today's generation of 60-year-olds and older, but the other major part of the population is only partially infl uenced by the anti-religious activities before 1989, or is not infl uenced at all. Th e data even suggests that the last generation who experienced a 'campaign against religion' turned to faith in the supernatural rather than to the ecclesial religion, as did the young generation born aft er 1987. Th e logic of this comparison suggests that even the present social system is de-Churching society, even if it does not manifest itself through direct anti-religious elements. On the basis of the above fi ndings, it is possible to answer the research question: in the process of religious socialisation, parental religious socialisation is primary, but other factors (represented by the wider environment and the whole society) have played in the past decades and still play a decisive role in contemporary social conditions. 33 In relation to the three generations characteristic, there is no age. We can fi nd there only education, professional classifi cation and marital status. Yet, it can be assumed that (in our classifi cation) we are talking about the elderly middle generation, the younger middle, and the youngest generation. Cf

Conclusion
In Czech society, the same mechanisms of religious socialisation apply as in other parts of Europe. Writers dealing with the religious situation in the world have noticed that there are no diff erences in terms of religious exclusiveness today. Th is comes from the fact that the long-running eff ort of communist systems to fi ght religion could have aff ected people's faith only for a few years aft er the fall of the regime. 35 Aft er 1990, life in the Czech Republic has verifi ed well the fact that the transmission of religious beliefs outside the family depends to a large extent on the social context. 36 Th e hypothesis saying that social and economic conditions have more signifi cant infl uence on the religious socialisation of off spring than parenting has been confi rmed in this respect. A trend that began in Northern and Western Europe in the 1950s, coupled with the steadily fading infl uence of Christian tradition and the growth of post-traditional spirituality in recent decades 37 is also manifesting itself in the Czech Republic as a consequence of the existing social situation. Experts wonder why religious education is (in most cases) less eff ective. Th e answers are found in the analysis of the interaction between subjective and objective conditions. Th e view of parental religious education points to several typical general features: a) parental infl uence is indirect, 38 b) religious socialisation is directed towards reproduction rather than towards the increase of religiosity, and c) there are no diff erences in the infl uence of parents on children in religiously oriented and secularised countries. 39 It is possible that the long-term eff ect of religious education directed at young people is weakened by socio-cultural development at the macro level. 40 Added to this is the fact that the psychological need to turn to religion in a situation of improving living conditions is decreasing and the role of religious socialisation within the family becomes more demanding. 41 Young people are less religious than older people, both in the Czech Republic and in the world. It is a refl ection of historical changes linked to a higher level of human development rather than to something that links with the cycle of human life. 42 A full understanding of the religious socialisation process requires attention to both levels, the micro and macro levels, and their interaction. Th e socialisation process cannot be studied independently of the social context. Religious and non-religious socialisation involves both parental religious socialisation and other factors including the wider environment and society in the past and today.