Investigating the Effect of Internal and External Religiosity on the Political Dimension of National Solidarity (Case Study: Citizens of Mashhad City)

Abstract

The issue solidarity and integration among different parts and creating adaptive totalities have always been the issue of intellectuals’ thinking and action. In this arena, creating national solidarity as one of the main dimensions of social integration is among serious concerns of independent countries and among its most important benefits one can refer to establishing national security which has a deep relationship with the quiddity of people’s links to each other and people’s links to their governments in the form of integrating within countries. The waves of internal and external upheavals has become so transforming that the access to integrating components and elements in social relations seems an undeniable necessity and vitality. Therefore, re-identifying and reconstructing dynamic and sustainable canonical factors of “national cohesion” is a scientific necessity and a research requirement. Accordingly, one of the factors affecting the national solidarity in Iran is citizens’ religious attitudes in the society. The present study is meant to investigate the theoretical relationship between the two concepts of political dimension and religiosity among citizens of Mashhad City. The present study, by dividing religiosity to two internal and external types, and using the survey research, indicates that the increase in internal and external religiosity causes the increase in the political dimension of citizens’ national solidarity.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n5s1p419