ISSP 2018: Religion IV, Lithuania, April 2019

The purpose of the study: to explore the views of the Lithuanian population on religion and to find out about their religious behaviour and experiences.
Major investigated questions: respondents we asked if they were to consider their life in general these days, how happy or unhappy would they be on the whole. Respondents were asked, all things considered, how satisfied are they with their relationships with family members. The questionnaire seeks answers on whether it is wrong or not wrong if a married person has sexual relations with someone other than his or her husband or wife; sexual relations between two adults of the same sex; whether it is wrong or not wrong for a woman to have an abortion if the family has a very low income and cannot afford any more children. Respondents were asked to agree or disagree with the following statement that “a husband's job is to earn money; a wife's job is to care for the home and family”. In addition, the level of confidence in the Lithuanian parliament, business and industry, church and religious organizations, courts and legal system, and the schools and educational system was assessed. The questionnaire asked respondents to agree or disagree on the following statements: “Religious leaders should not try to influence how people vote in elections”; “We trust too much in science and not enough in religious faith” (and other statements; 4 statements in total). Respondents were asked if they think that churches and religious organizations in Lithuania have too much or too little power, as if they would accept a person from a different religion or with a very different religious view from theirs if they decided to marry respondents’ relative. The respondents’ opinion was asked about religious extremists, that is, people who believe that their religion is the only true faith and all other religions should be considered as enemies, should be able to hold public meetings to express their views and to publish their views on the Internet or social networks. Next, the survey asked Lithuanians to rate and describe their relationship with God. Questions were asked whether respondents believe in life after death, heaven, hell, religious miracles, and the supernatural powers of deceased ancestors. It also asked whether respondents agree or disagree with the following statements about “There is a God who concerns Himself with every human being personally”; “There is little that people can do to change the course of their lives” (and other statements; 6 statements in total). Respondents were also asked whether their religion treats men and women equally, treat men better than women, or treat women better than men. Further clarification was taken on what the religious preferences were when they were children, as well as in what religion respondents were raised in. The questionnaire also asked how often did respondents mother and father attended religious services when they both, respondent and their parents were kids, when they were around 11 or 12, how often did they then attend religious services. Further during the questioning respondents were asked how often do they pray, do they take part in the activities or organizations of a church or place of worship other than attending services, as well as during the last 12 months, have they read or listened to the reading of any holy scripture such as the Bible, Buddhist sutra, Koran, Sruti, Torah, or other religious scripture, not counting any reading that happened during a worship service. They were asked to tell whether, for religious reasons, they have a shrine, altar, or other religious object in their home, such as a crucifix, a painting of the Mother of God, an icon, a menorah, paintings of saints, or statuettes. The questionnaire asked whether, for religious reasons, they visit a holy place e.g. church, Orthodox church, synagogue, etc. excluding visits to regular places of worship. The survey asked Lithuanians to describe their degree of religiosity and their relationship to religion. Respondents were asked do they agree or disagree that practicing a religion helps people to make friends and gain comfort in times of trouble or sorrow. They were asked if they agree or disagree with the following statements, such as “Religions are usually a barrier to equality between women and men”; “Governments should not interfere with attempts of any religion to spread its faith” (and other statements; 6 statements in total). Respondents were asked their opinion about Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Atheists or non-believers. Furthermore, respondents were asked to describe their health and asked if they had a turning point in their life when they committed to religion. The questionnaire asked whether the respondents would agree or disagree with the following statements such as “Good luck charms sometimes do bring good luck”; “Some fortune tellers really can foresee the future” (and other statements, 4 statements in total). Respondents were asked to imagine that the law was passed which conflicted with their religious principles and teachings, and they were asked whether they would follow the law or follow their religious principles. Furthermore, during the questioning, respondents were asked do they consider those belonging to the Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, or nonbelievers as threatening or not threatening. Respondents were asked whether people can be trusted or whether you cannot be too careful in dealing with people. At the end of the questionnaire, respondents were asked if they believe in reincarnations (being reborn in this world again and again) and nirvana (the state of reaching the peak of desires, illusions, and rebirths).
Socio-demographic characteristics: gender, age, level of education, membership in organizations, religion, marital status, nationality, political views, political participation, size of household, respondent's average personal income, place of residence, working situation of the respondent and of his/her spouse or partner.

This dataset was created using version 2.1.0 of the integrated data file of countries participating in the ISSP module “Religion IV“ (Lithuanian data) published in the GESIS Data Archive on 2020-12-01.