Muslim surfers on the internet: using the theory of planned behaviour to examine the factors influencing engagement in online religious activities

This study seeks to describe the types of religious activities Muslim surfers in Singapore engage in on the internet, and uses the theory of planned behaviour as a theoretical framework to examine how internet perception, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, internet self-efficacy, religiosity and other key demographic variables affect the use of the internet for religious purposes among Muslim surfers in Singapore.A total of 578 Muslim internet users aged 18 and above participated in a computer-assisted telephone interviewing survey in May 2004. We found that Muslim surfers tend to engage in online activities that were more related to personal religious concerns than those activities that were related to traditional institutional religion. 93 new media & society Copyright © 2008 SAGE Publications Los Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore Vol10(1):93–113 [DOI: 10.1177/1461444807085323] ARTICLE 085323_NMS_93-114.qxd 29/1/08 11:08 AM Page 93 © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on April 17, 2008 http://nms.sagepub.com Downloaded from New Media & Society 10(1) 94 Findings also indicate that perceived social pressure from the Muslim community, internet self-efficacy, and religiosity were positively related to engagement in online religious activities, while age was negatively related to engagement.