Investigating the Effect of Social Networks on Hijab with an Emphasis on the Religiosity Dimensions(Case Study: Female Users of Instagram Social Networking)

This article examines the impact of social networks on female users’ hijab with an emphasis on religious dimensions. The statistical population was the active users on Instagram. The instruments of measuring were the locally adapted questionnaire of Glock and Stark Religious Involvement Measurement Model in five dimensions and the researcher’s own designed questionnaire on hijab and covering. The formal and content validity of this questionnaire was confirmed by a number of professors and experts and its reliability was assessed through a preliminary test using Cronbach's alpha in the religiosity variable (0.911) and hijab and covering (0.751) variables. Data analysis was conducted at two levels of descriptive and inferential statistics using spss/21 software. The findings of this study showed that there is an inverse relationship between the amount of social network use, the degree of satisfaction and the level of trust in social networks with the user’s hijab. However, the relationship between the dimensions of religiosity (religious beliefs, religious dimension, consequential dimension and emotional dimension) was found to be directly and positively correlated with the hijab of the users. Also, through the path analysis, it was proved that the degree of religiosity has a strong impact on how the users cover their bodies. The variables like the degree of using social networks, aspects of ritual and belief- related variables, trust in social networks, satisfaction from social networks and consequential side of religiosity have, in the order given, the highest impact on the tendency towards hijab and the users' body covering.