Perception differences in the interpretation of religious generations on the plane of religious symbols and practices: The example of Trabzon

Religiosity is a concept that reflects the significance of religion in the life of individuals, their religious beliefs, and commitments to religion. There are different forms of religiosity in each religion, society, stratum and even lifestyle; and thus, these entities interpret religiosity differently. The generation and era that people belong to could also lead to differences between religious practices and symbols in the interpretation of religiosity. The present study aims to investigate the differences between generational differences in the interpretation of religiosity based on religious symbols and practices. The aim of the study is to determine the religiosity that individuals of different generations assign to others based on which religious practices, including operational, personal, behavioral, symbolic, physical, spatial, differential attributes. Since the study aimed to determine whether the religious meanings that people as a member of the society constructed in daily life differed based on interpersonal communication and interaction, the period, conditions and the generations, the theoretical background was designed based on Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann's theory of social construction of reality. The study was conducted in Trabzon province, Turkey. To collect comprehensive data that reflect intergenerational differences, the study group included the members of the Baby Boomer generation and generation Y. The phenomenological approach, a qualitative research method, which aimed to determine the perceptive differences between the interpretations of religiosity by the generations, was employed in the study. Data were collected with semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted with 20 participants (10 boomers and 10 generations Y members) assigned with the stratified purposive sampling method. The interview data were interpreted with the descriptive analysis technique. The study findings revealed that there was no difference between the religiosity perceptions of the baby boomer and Y generation members based on the definition of religiosity, the classification of religious individuals, and significant religious symbols; however, there were differences between their interpretations of religiosity based on religious symbols and practices.