The Role of Media in Students' Familiarity With Satanic Sects (Case Study: Students of Islamic Azad University, Ardabil) Branch

The purpose of this article is to investigate the role of the media in the familiarity of students of the Islamic Azad University of Ardabil with satanic sects.

The present study is applied in terms of purpose and correlational in terms of method. To collect data, a researcher-made questionnaire with closed-ended questions was used in a five-point Likert scale.

Familiarity with satanism among girls and boys is significantly lower than the theoretical average; The level of familiarity of male students is significantly higher than female students; The difference in the mean observed between the study groups is not significant; There is no significant difference between the media sources of male and female students' familiarity with satanic sects; Also, there was no significant relationship between the variables of students' socio-economic status and familiarity with satanic sects.

Among the sources of students' familiarity with satanic sects, the media has an effective role. Multiplicity of media resources, ease of use and instant communication, no restrictions on content production, audience interaction, informal social media space, lack of editorial team in content production, less censorship and lower prices, make the role of these media bold in promoting ideas and shaping Culture and thought .