사회균열의 축으로서의 종교: 종교 간 가치 및 태도의 차이를 중심으로

초록

To investigate whether religion as social institution in South Korea is a factor contributing to social cleavages rather than social integration, we examine the effect of religious affiliation and belief on individuals' social identity, ideological preference as well as attitude toward other religions and politics. While previous research around this topic has been focused on theoretical discussion, this paper empirically analyze the differences among various religious groups in behavior and attitude in relation to socially controversial issues, using the 2008 Korean General Social Survey (KGSS). The analyses was performed in following four areas: (1) individual happiness and socio-economic status; (2) value systems on socially controversial issues; (3) relationship between religion and politics; (4) attitude toward other religions and religious extremism. In addition, we analyze the extent to which religiosity and religious affiliation affect social cleavage, in comparison to other contributing factors incurring social cleavage, such as generation, ideology, region, and occupation(class). The findings are as follows: depending on religious affiliation, there are statistically significant differences in four areas (consisting of twelve subcategories), except for two subcategories (i.e. income and attitude toward coexistence of multi-religions. Some notable findings are as follows. There are significant difference among religious groups in sexual attitude and opinions with regards to abortion. As is in the case of Western societies, there is substantial differences in these issues between religious and non-religious groups in South Korea. Interestingly, there also exists significant difference in these issues, depending on their religious affiliations. Compared with Catholics and non-religious groups, Protestants and Buddhists tend to agree with political involvement of religious leaders. Regardless of their religious affiliations, respondents seem to accept coexistence of multi-religions in South Korea. However, according to analysis on inter-religious favorableness and social distance, Protestants are least favorably regarded by other religious group members and non-believers, and show highest level of exclusivity to others. We discuss the implications of these findings as well as limitations and future research suggestions.

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