«Help My Unbelief»: Dynamics of Religious Belief and Religious Motivation of Ukraine Residents with Consistent and Inconsistent Social Statuses

Abstract

The paper examines the relationship between social status and religiosity in Ukraine, focusing on differences across consistent and inconsistent status categories. The study builds upon prior research on youth religiosity and status (in)consistency, extending the analysis to multiple waves of the World Values Survey from 1996 to 2020. Respondents were classified according to combinations of their education and income, allowing for the identification of consistent and inconsistent status categories. Religiosity was measured through religious belief and religious motivation, including belief in God and hell, perceived importance of religiosity for children, importance of religion, being a religious person, and confidence in churches. The findings demonstrate that low-status consistent groups tend to display higher levels of declared religiosity and stronger support for religion as a social and moral resource, particularly during periods of uncertainty. In contrast, high-status consistent groups more often distance themselves from institutional religion, showing slightly lower confidence in churches and unstable support for importance of religion for children. Status inconsistency is associated with fluctuating confidence in religious institutions and selective religious views. Over time, status-based differences were more pronounced in 1996 and 2011, while in 2006 and 2020 they became noticeably less distinct, indicating a partial convergence of attitudes.