Investigation of faith attitudes and prosocial behaviors in Alevi individuals: The case of Istanbul province

Especially with the migration from rural to urban areas, Alevi individuals encounter individuals/groups of Sunni faith in urban life and the social distance between them gradually decreases. It is seen that there is a change, transformation and even metamorphosis in terms of belief and behavior between the two groups that interact with each other as the distances decrease, both in business life, in neighborhood relations and through various cultural and social activities. This study is about the evaluation between faith attitudes and prosocial behaviors of individuals belonging to the Alevi faith. The research was conducted with individuals belonging to the Alevi faith, who migrated from various regions of our country and reside in Istanbul, where different cultures and beliefs coexist. It was conducted with a semi-structured interview method with a total of 15 participants, 9 women and 6 men, who experience their beliefs at different levels. Participants were asked open-ended questions about how they define themselves as a believer, their attitudes towards worship, the role of belief in positive social behaviors such as altruism, helpfulness and empathy, and their relationship with the Sunni belief. It has been observed that identity or belief is not effective in the practice of prosocial behaviors of Alevi individuals, and these behaviors are accepted as the basic teachings of the Alevi faith. It has been concluded that the content of the Cem ritual and institutions such as companionship play a role in the spread of these social behaviors. However, there were also cases where it was observed that in-group bias was positive and out-group bias was negative in Alevi individuals. This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the impact of Alevi individuals' belief attitudes and understandings on social interactions and individual behaviors.