This study examines religious orientations among university-age respondents in Kazakhstan across social, institutional, and digital contexts. It asks which channels respondents associate with religious socialization, whom they trust as religious authorities, and how institutional views relate to personal religious experience. The analysis draws on a standardized survey conducted between January and June 2025 using a combination of quota and convenience sampling (N = 1,052). Descriptive statistics, Pearson's chi-square test, and Spearman's rank correlation were employed. Family was named as an influence on religious values by 69.6% of respondents. Parents and relatives were reported as a source of religious information by 52.2%, compared with 44.2% for the internet. Trust was reported by 55.8% for local imams and muftis and by 7.5% for foreign preachers. The largest correlation linked assessments of the public role of religious institutions with views on religion-state relations (r_s = .354, p < .001). Personal religious experience showed only weak associations with the remaining measures. The pattern suggests that family continuity, digital information, and locally recognized authority coexist in the religious orientations of student youth. Because the sample was non-probability based and heavily concentrated among respondents aged 18-22, the findings should not be generalized to all young people in Kazakhstan.
RELIGIOUS ORIENTATIONS AMONG STUDENT YOUTH IN KAZAKHSTAN: SOCIALIZATION CHANNELS, RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY, AND INSTITUTIONAL ATTITUDES
Published September 2026
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Abstract
Language
Українська
Keywords
religious values
student youth
religious socialization
secularism
digital religion
religious authority
religion-state relations
How to Cite
[1]
Nurov, M. 2026. RELIGIOUS ORIENTATIONS AMONG STUDENT YOUTH IN KAZAKHSTAN: SOCIALIZATION CHANNELS, RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY, AND INSTITUTIONAL ATTITUDES. Bulletin of Abai KazNPU. Series of Sociological and Political sciences. 95, 3 (Sep. 2026), 86–103. DOI:https://doi.org/10.51889/2959-6270.2026.95.3.005 .

