Özet:

Interest is strictly prohibited in the basic sources of Islamic religion. However, in today’s societies, people need financial institutions to meet their daily needs, to evaluate their savings or to realize some of their needs and expectations. In this sense, institutions that claim to offer interest-free financial services to respond to the financial needs and demands of Muslim individuals have taken their place in Muslim societies. "Special Finance Institutions" have begun to offer services under the name of today's "participation banks" in Muslim county, Turkey. However, it is observed that the participation banks operating in our country have a very low share in the banking sector when the number of branches and the funds they collect and the funds they use are evaluated. It can be thought that many factors play a role over these attitudes, with the preferences of banks that make interest and other transactions to the participation banks working with interest-free principles. The contradictions and discrepancies between individual attitudes and attitudes that express the way a person reacts to a psychological object or situation can cause some tension and disrest in the individual's spiritual life. From this point of view, an individual who believes that the interest is forbidden in a Muslim society will be able to evaluate his/her accumulation in the interest-based financial institutions or meet the financing needs and this will create a conflict between his/her beliefs and behaviors. In this case, tension and restlessness can prevail in the spiritual life of an individual. It is thought that this research, which aims to describe the conformity and discrepancies between interest-bearing attitudes in the Muslim Turkish society and the elements of these attitudes, and if there is a discrepancy between the attitudes or component of the attitudes by Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory, to examine this within the framework will give important contributions to the literature. A structured-interview form was used and 51 academics from a state university participated in the study. The interview protocol consists of two parts, which are open-ended questions, which were asked to answer the questions of the research and the factual questions. The interview form was delivered to the participants via e-mail and the participant completed the form voluntarily. Based on the data obtained, it was found that the participants' perceptions of subjective religosity are high, indicating that all participants perceive themselves as religious at 4 or more levels. Approximately half (45.1%) of the participants stated that they used financing from a financial institution. Of these participants, 52% used financing for the home, 26% for the vehicle and 22% for the need. It was concluded that four groups were formed from the most negative attitude to the most moderate attitude. Forty-six percent of the respondents stated that the interest was forbidden, while 23 percent of them showed a negative attitude even if they did not use the phrase illegal. 10% of the most moderate group; "maturity difference", "profit", "share paid to prevent the loss of value", such as statements with a more moderate attitude towards interest. When the participants’ attitudes towards the use of financing from participation banks and the attitudes of participation banks to distribute dividends are considered, only 18% of the respondents have a positive attitude towards participation banks, while 41% they evaluate the same the participation banks with other banks. On the subject of the use of loans from banks with interest rates; It is understood from the statements that 22% of the participants appropriate the use of interest finance partially or fully. According to the findings, it can be concluded that the participants except who have positive attitudes towards participation banks for 18% have doubts and cognitive dissonance. Participants are thought to have had some motivation to eliminate suspicion and cognitive incompatibility in accordance with Festinger's proposed theory. Some participants tend to reduce cognitive disagreements with the expressions that it is not possible to avoid the interest system in today's conditions, while some participants tend to improve cognitive disagreements with the motivation to increase the information that is compatible with rationalizations and to reduce information that is incompatible. This study is limited to the sample group, the study period and the data collection tools, indicating that the findings can contribute to the service delivery of participation banks. Understanding the expectations, doubts, and conflicts of the target groups and taking measures to eliminate them will enable the protection of the mental health of society and increase the satisfaction on the other hand. Furthermore, this study can also provide data for other studies on the same subject.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Özet:

Interest is strictly prohibited in the basic sources of Islamic religion. However, in today's societies, people need financial institutions to meet their daily needs, to evaluate their savings or to realize some of their needs and expectations. In this sense, institutions that claim to offer interest-free finance services to respond to the financial needs and demands of Muslim individuals have taken their place in Muslim societies. "Special Finance Institutions" have begun to offer services under the name of today's "participation banks" in Muslim county, Turkey. However, it is observed that the participation banks operating in our country have a very low share in the banking sector when the number of branches and the funds they collect and the funds they use are evaluated. It can be thought that many factors play a role over these attitudes, with the preferences of banks that make interest and other transactions to the participation banks working with interest-free principles. The contradictions and discrepancies between individual attitudes and attitudes that express the way a person reacts to a psychological object or situation can cause some tension and unrest in the individual's spiritual life. From this point of view, an individual who believes that the interest is forbidden in a Muslim society will be able to evaluate his / her accumulation in the interest-based financial institutions or meet the financing needs and this will create a conflict between his beliefs and behaviors. In this case, tension and restlessness can prevail in the spiritual life of an individual. It is thought that this research, which aims to describe the conformity and discrepancies between interest-bearing attitudes in the Muslim Turkish society and the elements of these attitudes, and if there is a discrepancy between the attitudes or component of the attitudes by Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory, to examine this within the framework will give important contributions to the literature. A structured-interview form was used and 51 academicians from a state university participated in the study. The interview protocol consists of two parts, which are open-ended questions, which were asked to answer the questions of the research and the factual questions. The interview form was delivered to the participants via e-mail and the participant completed the form voluntarily. Based on the data obtained, it was found that the participants' perceptions of subjective religiosity are high, indicating that all participants perceive themselves as religious at 4 or more levels. Approximately half (45.1%) of the participants stated that they used financing from a financial institution. Of these participants, 52% used financing for the home, 26% for the vehicle and 22% for the need. It was concluded that four groups were formed from the most negative attitude to the most moderate attitude. Forty-six percent of the respondents stated that the interest was forbidden, while 23% of them showed a negative attitude even if they did not use the phrase haram. 10% of the most moderate group; "maturity difference", "profit", "share paid to prevent the loss of value", such as statements with a more moderate attitude towards interest. When the participants’ attitudes towards the use of financing from participation banks and the attitudes of participation banks to distribute dividends are considered, only 18% of the respondents have a positive attitude towards participation banks, while  41% they evaluate the same the participation banks with other banks. On the subject of the use of loans from banks with interest rates; It is understood from the statements that 22% of the participants appropriate the use of interest finance partially or fully. According to the findings, it can be concluded that the participants except who have positive attitudes towards participation banks for 18% have doubts and cognitive dissonance. Participants are thought to have had some motivation to eliminate suspicion and cognitive incompatibility in accordance with Festinger's proposed theory. Some participants tend to reduce cognitive disagreements with the expressions that it is not possible to avoid the interest system in today's conditions, while some participants tended to improve cognitive disagreements with the motivation to increase the information that is compatible with rationalizations and to reduce information that is incompatible. This study is limited to the sample group, the study period and the data collection tools, indicating that the findings can contribute to the service delivery of participation banks. Understanding the expectations, doubts, and conflicts of the target groups and taking measures to eliminate them will enable the protection of society's mental health and increase the satisfaction on the other hand. Further, this study can also provide data for other studies on the same subject.