CHRISTIANITY AND THE VALUE ORIENTATION OF CONTEMPORARY PEOPLE

This research study deals with the analysis of the value orientation of contemporary people. The Christian value framework is represented by traditional values such as family, spirituality and traditions, which are analyzed in contrast with values based on individualism. The aim of the research was to determine to what extent the Christian value orientation applies to demographic groups of larger agglomerations and to what extent is this sample affected by the fact of religiosity and whether the differences in value orientation relate to age. The research sample includes 1,100 respondents aged 15 to 79 years. Compliance with the quota sampling ensures the representativeness of the research. Part of the research is the factor analysis, testing of the differences between the individual demographic variables and the results are compared with the data on religious beliefs of the population. The research results point to the fact that traditional Christian values are unchanging across age cohorts. This means that values such as family, spirituality and traditions can be considered universal in relation to the development of personality. On the other hand, we found significant gender differences. Women have higher affinity for traditional values, in contrast to individualistic values, where no significant gender differences were confirmed. Based on comparing the results of the research with statistical data about religious beliefs of the population, we can confirm that in regions with a higher proportion of religious population the affinity for traditional values is significantly higher.