Religion and Family; the Generational Differences in Religiosity among the Clerical and Non-Clerical Families in Qom

Generational religious changes are among the fundamental issues in transitional societies. Explaining this issue, most research works are based solely on macro-structural approaches. In addition to studying the macro approaches, the present research emphasizes on the minor range phenomenon such as family, and through comparing clerical and non-clerical families, seeks to expound the role of family- religious components in explaining the generational difference in terms of religiosity. In this research, the survey method and questionnaire technique were used to collect data. From among all the clerical and non-clerical families in Qom, with at least one child between 18 to 29 years old, 390 fathers and one of their children were selected through multistage cluster sampling. The research findings show that, in addition to the significant relationship between generational difference and variables of parents’ religious compatibility, father’s knowledge of the importance of religion, and religious socialization, in clerical families, the generational difference in terms of religiosity is significantly lower than that of non- clerical families.