Percepções e vivências sobre religião de estudantes universitários da UFMG em 2017 : um estudo comparativo entre católicos e evangélicos

Abstract

Religion has often been studied in association with sociology. Authors such as Durkheim, Marx and Weber have focused on the topic in hope of uncovering possible associations between religion and social life in several of its dimensions. It is known that religion shapes and influences people's perceptions, attitudes and behaviors in their everyday life. This research aims to understand the influence of religion among university students at UFMG in 2017 on some aspects of family, professional and personal life, comparing Catholics with Evangelicals. The aspects of family life analyzed concern issues related to: choice of partners; transmission of religious education to children; opinion about chastity and about the man as head of the family. The aspects of professional life analyzed are related to the criteria used to choose the course; the interest in doing postgraduate studies and the opinion about the help of religion in professional life. Additionally, issues related to intimate life are analyzed through questions about sexual intercourse and use of the morning-after pill. To achieve the objectives established in this study, descriptive statistics were used. The analysis developed was based on data from the research entitled Religiosity at the University: UFMG students profile carried out in 2017. This research was part of a research project coordinated by PUC-MG in partnership with UFMG. The questionnaire that generated the data used in this dissertation was applied via Google Forms. 3463 responses considered valid were obtained. The results in relation to aspects of family life showed that less than 4.0% of Catholics and Evangelicals use religious criteria to choose partners. But between 60.0 and 62.0% of Catholics and Evangelicals, respectively, said yes when asked about the possibility of transmitting religious training to their children. About maintaining chastity before marriage, 14.0% of Catholics and 15.0% of Evangelicals agreed with maintaining this behavior. A smaller proportion of them, however, agreed that the man should be the head of the couple (11.0% of Catholics and 13.0% of Evangelicals). The results in relation to aspects of professional experience suggest that neither Catholics nor Evangelicals used criteria related to religion to choose the course and that more than 90.0% in both groups reported having an interest in doing post-graduate studies. Finally, more than 50.0% of respondents, both Catholics and Evangelicals, said they believe that religion is capable of helping in their professional lives. Although several studies point out that, in general, young evangelicals show greater religious engagement, the results of this study suggest that, among young people who were part of the community of university students at UFMG in 2017, the differences between Catholics and Evangelicals, in terms of regarding perceptions, attitudes, experiences and behaviors was very low. This reduction of differences can be considered important due to the adepts of these two great Christian groups, who previously presented great divergences, are now approaching in relation to practical experience in the family, professional and personal scopes.