*WINNER* Importance of Religion and Politics among Southeastern College Students

Abstract

This won best undergraduate poster for Interdisciplinary Studies.

Since the birth of the United States, there has been controversy over the separation of church and state. In this study, we evaluate the relationship of the importance of both religion and political views among a sample of Southeastern college students. It was hypothesized that the importance of religion and politics would be significantly related to the perception of positive influences of religion and politics on campus.
An online questionnaire was used to collect data from 116 Southeastern college students consisting of 56.9% males, 88 students who self-identified as Christian with an average age of 19.92 (SD = 5.18). Data showed a significant positive correlation between the importance of politics and the students’ belief that politics on campus is a positive influence [r (114) = .34, p = .001]. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between religiosity and the students’ belief that religion on campus is a positive influence [r (114) =.53, p = .001]. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between the students’ perception that campus has a very religious “feel” and their belief that religion on campus is a positive influence [r (114) =.36, p = .001]. Diener’s Satisfaction with Life Scale showed no relation to the importance of religion or politics. We concluded that one’s perception of reality is shaped by what they want to see. If religion is important, it is seen as a positive influence and if politics are important it is seen as a positive influence.