Religijność pokoleń w procesie przemian

Abstrakt

The author compares the results of studies of different generations in multigeneration families and presents the process of the differentiation of the total attitude of the generations towards religion. He discovers that the secularization of the rising generation in Polish society does not proceed rapidly but gradually and is conditioned by the secularization of the family environment. However, the process of the secularization of the young leads to a development of religious consciousness among the faithful, whereas religious or. non-religious attitudes are less frequently handed down together with the total culture of the environment; they are more often the result of individual considerations and decisions influenced by the family environment, especially the parents. The young generation are more consequent in their religious attitudes, whereas the older generations are more conformist; their religiousness very often has a cultural character and is based on tradition. Attitudes towards most general principles of behaviour towards other men are almost identical in all generations. Marked differences between the generations appear in relation to some more detailed norms (sexual life, the indissolubility of marriage, attitude toward work and common property). The author also considers the role of the family in handing down religiousness of the successive generations. There are differences in the religiousness of the particular generations but the continuity of religiousness is also well-marked; therefore neither the difference nor the continuity of the religiousness of generations can be treated as absolute.