Individual and Social Factors Predicting Religiosity Differences between European Countries

If we take into account the increasing number of immigrants of non-Christian religious background (Hindu, Muslims etc) who become more relevant as minority groups, contemporary Europe represents a religious melting-pot. The evident secularization trends within Western Europe, the interaction with these new social groups and their increasing social relevance creates different patterns of religious behavior in Western and Eastern Europe or in countries with Protestant, Catholic or Orthodox dominant religious tradition, if we compare them. Based on data from European Value Study (1981 - 2010) we’ll try to observe if and how the religiosity of people from different European countries is influenced by individual (gender, age, education) or social level factors (religious affiliation, country’s Human development index etc).