Authors

• Church Research Institute

Keywords

moral concepts, moral values, religious affiliation, religious attendance, religious beliefs, supernatural, virtues and vices

Abstract

The survey focused on Finnish perceptions of sin and supernatural phenomena. First, the respondents were asked whether they belonged to a church or other religious denomination, whether they believed in God, and how often they attended church services. Moral concepts and moral values were studied by asking the respondents whether certain actions were morally wrong or not: use of alcohol, smoking, use of illegal drugs, lying, envying others, stealing, killing, tax fraud, extramarital sex, homosexual sex, use of contraceptives, abortion, divorce, etc. The respondents were asked to what extent they agreed with a number of statements relating to UFOs, alternative medicine, astrology, reincarnation, fortune-telling, spiritual growth, and meditation.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, age group, education, type of neighbourhood, and province of residence.