Part 1
The relationship between the scale, UK Zoroastrian Boundaries, and the two values scales, Attitudes to Religious Values and Attitudes to Social Values was investigated. However, some of the same variables had been used to create the two different types of scales. On the one hand there was the scale, UK Zoroastrian Boundaries, and on the other the scales, Attitudes to Religious Values and Attitudes to Social Values. The former included some variables that were also included in either one, or the other of the latter scales. Two sequences of statistical analyses were run. One set which used the scales that had some variables common to two of the three scales, and then a second set of analyses with the variables included in only one of the scales, UK Zoroastrian Boundaries. The results indicated that analyses with the ‘common’ variables had inflated statistical relationships, but the direction of the relationship was not altered by the limiting of variables to only one of the scales. The results were consistent for the two sequences of statistical analyses.
Did the attitudes to the symbolic boundaries have any impact on attitudes to religious and social values of Zoroastrianism? The sub-samples of Zoroastrians were divided into those who supported the symbolic boundaries and those who wanted to change them. I used the SPSS Plot facility and plotted the scale, Attitudes to Religious Values, against the scale, Attitudes to Social Values.
For the scale, UK Zoroastrian Boundaries:
1. Marriages between Zoroastrians and non-Zoroastrians.
2. Bi-cultural marriage ceremony before Zoroastrian Priests.
3. Children of bi-cultural marriage to be considered as Zoroastrians.
4. Conversion of non-Zoroastrians.
5. Naujote for non-Zoroastrians.
6. Community actively seek converts.
7. Non-Zoroastrians allowed in Temples in India.
8. Non-Zoroastrians allowed in Temples in Iran.
9. Non-Zoroastrians allowed in Temple in UK.
The results are given in the graphs Table 1 to Table 3.
The exact position of each respondent with regard to the sum total of their attitudes to the religious and social values of Zoroastrianism can be examined.
The percentage of Zoroastrians falling into each quadrant of the graphs is shown in Tables 4 to 6.
In Table 4 those respondents who had positive scores on both the scales are shown in the positive quadrant, (56%). Respondents who had a positive score on the scale, Attitudes to Religious Values, and a negative score on the scale, Attitudes to Social Values, comprised (11%) of the total. Respondents who had a positive score on the scale, Attitudes to Social Values, but a negative score on the scale, Attitudes to Religious Values comprised (14%) of the total. Respondents who had negative scores on both scales comprised (10)% of the total.
In Table 5 the Zoroastrians, who did not want change to the symbolic boundaries, show a high percentage who had positive attitudes to both religious and social values, (86%), and they have a much lower representation in the other quadrants compared with the total sample and the Zoroastrians who wanted to change the symbolic boundaries. The attitudes of these Zoroastrians, to their religious values can be explained at the level of (12%) by their attitudes to the social values of Zoroastrianism.
For the Zoroastrians who wanted change in the symbolic boundaries, there are much fewer, (36%), who fall in the quadrant representing positive attitudes to both religious and social values, compared with the total sample, (56%), and (86%) for the sub-sample who did not want to change the symbolic boundaries. There is a increase in the percentage of Zoroastrians falling in the quadrant representing negative attitudes to religious values and positive attitudes to social values, (22%), compared with the total sample, (14%). Only (7%) of their attitudes to religious values can be explained by their attitudes to the social values of Zoroastrianism.
SPSS Linear Regression procedures were used to look at the relationship between these three variables, UK Zoroastrian Boundaries, Attitudes to Religious Values, Attitudes to Social Values. The results are summarized in tabular form in Tables 7 to 10.
As was expected the religious values scale explained a very high percentage of the variance in the scale UK Zoroastrian Boundaries, but it should be noted that the scale, Attitudes to Social Values was dropped from the stepwise regression equation.
For the scale, Attitudes to Religious Values, both UK Zoroastrian Boundaries and the scale, Attitudes to Social Values, were entered into the stepwise regression equation with an explained variance of (70%). The effect of the background variables on the scale, Attitudes to Religious Values, is given in Table 9.
The independent action of each scale on Attitudes to Religious Values is given in Table 10.
The scale, Attitudes to Social Values added little to the statistical explanation of the scale, UK Zoroastrian Boundaries, (2%), and by far the best predictor of Zoroastrian attitudes to the religious values of Zoroastrianism was their attitude to the symbolic boundaries, (beta = .77). A stepwise regression analysis of the scale, Attitudes to Social Values, was conducted and the results are given below. As was expected the scale, UK Zoroastrian Boundaries was dropped from the regression equation. See Table 11.
Religious values explained (17%) of the variance in social values of Zoroastrians. The social values of Zoroastrianism were not connected to the symbolic boundaries in the same way as the religious values. e. Second Set of Analyses: Variables Common to One Scale Only