Knowledge and Learning of Interreligious and Intercultural Understanding in an Indonesian Islamic College Sample: An Epistemological Belief Approach

Abstract

Epistemological beliefs are the basis of how someone acquires knowledge and are used as a guide for behavior in everyday life. For religious fundamentalists, however, their belief in religious knowledge is very strong, causing them to negate different opinions and ideas. Since the radicalization process is closely related to the education process, two important epistemological concepts of belief about knowledge and belief about learning need to be tested to analyze the extent to which these two factors might be predictors of an individual’s tendency towards religious fundamentalism. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of epistemological beliefs on the religious fundamentalism of Muslim millennial youth. By using a simple random sampling method, data collection was conducted by distributing Likert-scale questionnaires to 195 Muslim undergraduate students at an Islamic institute in Kudus, Central Java. Data were analyzed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The results showed that the proposed model was appropriate and eligible for hypothesis testing (p = 138, goodness of fit index (GFI) = 0.965, adjusted goodness of fit index (AGFI) = 0.934, Tucker–Lewis index (TLI) = 0.978 and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.040). Furthermore, statistical analysis shows that epistemological beliefs in the form of beliefs about knowledge (critical ratio (C.R) = 4585 and p = 0.000) and beliefs about learning (C.R = 3202 and p = 0.001) have significant and positive effects on religious fundamentalism. These results highlight the importance of developing the concept of critical thinking in learning and inclusiveness-oriented education to eradicate religious fundamentalism among millennials.