Anna Maria Mouza, Gregory Telemachos Stamkopoulos

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to identify the perceived attributes of Christian Orthodox commitment and to determine whether these attributes constitute distinct dimensions. Two groups of 20 undergraduate students, in their final year of study at the Ecclesiastical Academy of Thessaloniki, Greece, were interviewed. From the interviews, six factors were recognized to be essential for their faith: family, feasts, attitude, invocation, feeling, and knowledge. In a second stage, and for each factor, the most appropriate attitudes were identified. Afterwards, a questionnaire was distributed to senior students. After applying factor analysis, a rotated component matrix revealed four factors accounting for 30 items. The factors feasts, family, and knowledge were distinct in the factor analysis, whereas invocation, attitude, and feeling, were grouped together into one factor, which participants recognized as faith. These results show that Christian Orthodox commitment can be viewed as multidimensional.

Keywords:  Christian Orthodox, commitment, dimensions, multidimensional, faith

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