The Relationship between the Use of Social Networks by Youths and their Participation in Religious Ceremonies

The present study was carried out to investigate the relationship between the use of social networks among youths in Shahr-e Kord and their participation in religious ceremonies. In this survey research the instrumentation comprised self-devised “Social Networking” as well as “Participation in Religious Ceremonies” Questionnaires. The content validity of the questionnaires was examined and approved by experts. Furthermore, Cronbach's alpha coefficients obtained for the reliability of “Social Networking” and “Participation in Religious Ceremonies” Questionnaires were 0.80 and 0.81, respectively. The statistical population of the study included male students of Shahr-e Kord University. The sample size was determined based on Cochran’s formula and 384 students were selected through multi-stage cluster sampling method. Based on Kolmogorov-Smirnov test results and on account of the fact that the p-value for the normality test was less than 0.05, nonparametric chi-square test was utilized for data analysis. Results showed that there was a significant, negative relationship between the use of social networks by youths (length of membership, time spent on social networks, involvement in social networking, and trust in social networks) and their participation in religious ceremonies (time spent on religious ceremonies, active participation in religious ceremonies, and belief in participation in religious ceremonies). More specifically, time spent on social networks, involvement in social networking, and trust in social networks were negatively associated with time spent on religious ceremonies, active participation in such ceremonies, and belief in participation in religious ceremonies.