IMPORTANCE OF RELIGIOUS AND CONFESSIONAL DISTANCE IN THE SHAPING… 145 UDC: 2:316.647.82-057.875(497.115)”2016/2017” IMPORTANCE OF RELIGIOUS AND CONFESSIONAL DISTANCE IN THE SHAPING OF STUDENTS’ IDENTITY IN KOSOVO & METOHIJA 1 Šuvaković V. Uroš 2 , PhD, Full Professor Petrović S. Jasmina 3 , PhD, Full Professor Marković Savić S. Olivera 4 , PhD, Associate Professor Starting from the assumption that religious identification has increased its significance in the shaping of identity in the environments which have been in the ambience of “frozen conflict” on a long-term basis, the extent of significance ascribed to it by students in Kosovo & Metohija has been examined. It is assumed that, independently of how the students themselves identify regarding religion, and of the place of religious identification in the identity matrix, they manifest significant distance towards the religiously “other” because it is the area with the politicization of the church and religious feelings, whereas religion becomes a means, an instrument of empowering national identity. The importance of religious affiliation as an identity segment of the surveyed population has been seen through the comparison of self- assessments of the importance of a series of identity markers (both those regarding traditional identity structures such as national, religious and family affiliation, and the markers typical of modern identity, such as sub-cultural, professional and regional affiliation). Religious/confessional distance was examined on the Bogardus scale, adapted to the examined student population. The research was conducted by the survey technique in December 2016/January 2017 on the proportional quota sample of 997 students of the Albanian University in Priština and the Serbian state University 1 The paper is the result of the research cooperation of the authors within the scientific research projects III 47023 “Kosovo and Metohija between national identity and Euro-integrations” and OI 179013 “Identity sustainability of Serbs and national minorities in border municipalities of East and South-East Serbia” financed by the Ministry of education, science and technological development of the Republic of Serbia. 2 University of Belgrade, Teacher Education Faculty, Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Serbia, uros.suvakovic@uf.bg.ac.rs 3 University of Niš, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Sociology, Serbia, jasmina.petrovic@ filfak.ni.ac.rs 4 University of Priština with temporary Head Office in Kosovska Mitrovica, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Sociology, Serbia, markovic.olivera@gmail.com