Religiosity

The Oxford English Dictionary defines religiosity as: "Religiousness; religious feeling or belief. [...] Affected or excessive religiousness". Different scholars have seen this concept as broadly about religious orientations and degrees of involvement or commitment. The contrast between "religious" and "religiose" (superficially religious) and the concept of "strengthening" faith suggest differences in the intensity of religiosity.

Scholars attempt to measure religiosity at the levels of individuals or groups, but differ as to what behaviors constitute religiosity. Sociologists of religion have observed that an individual's experience, beliefs, sense of belonging, and general behavior often are not congruent with their religious behavior, since there is much diversity in how one can be religious or not. Problems arise in measuring religiosity. For instance, measures of variables such as church attendance produce different results when different methods are used, such as traditional surveys as opposed to time-use surveys.