Social perception of religious tolerance is a process of understanding, attitudes and ways of seeing a person towards existing religious diversity. This descriptive phenomenological qualitative research aims to describe the social perceptions of students in Semarang towards religious tolerance. The subjects in this research were 5 people from Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism. The subjects were aged between 18-26 years and studying in Semarang. The data collection techniques used were interviews, observation and documentation. The findings of this research illustrate that the subjects' social perceptions of religious tolerance tend to be positive. It is shown that the five subjects feel comfortable during interfaith interactions, no longer have prejudice, and have the will to spread religious tolerance. The five subjects were also able to exercise religious tolerance while still upholding the teachings of their own religion. Researchers also formulated five factors that influence the social perception of students in Semarang towards religious tolerance, namely the level of belief in one's own religion, critical thinking skills, comfort, interaction experience, information and media coverage.
Keywords: social perception, students, religious tolerance

ABSTRAK:
Persepsi sosial terhadap toleransi beragama merupakan proses memahami, sikap dan cara pandang seseorang terhadap keberagaman agama yang ada. Penelitian kualitatif fenomenologis deskriptif ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui gambaran persepsi sosial mahasiswa di Semarang terhadap toleransi beragama. Subjek dalam penelitian ini berjumlah 5 orang dari agama Islam, Kristen, Buddha, Hindu, dan Khonghucu. Subjek berusia di rentang 18-26 tahun dan berkuliah di Semarang. Teknik pengumpulan data yang digunakan adalah wawancara, observasi, dan dokumentasi. Hasil temuan penelitian ini menggambarkan persepsi sosial subjek terhadap toleransi beragama cenderung positif. Ditunjukkan dengan kelima subjek merasa nyaman selama berinteraksi lintas agama, tidak ada lagi prasangka, dan memiliki kemauan untuk menyebarkan toleransi beragama. Kelima subjek juga mampu menjalankan toleransi beragama dengan tetap memegang teguh ajaran agamanya sendiri. Peneliti juga merumuskan lima faktor yang mempengaruhi persepsi sosial mahasiswa di Semarang terhadap toleransi beragama yakni tingkat keimanan terhadap agama sendiri, kemampuan berpikir kritis, kenyamanan, pengalaman interaksi, informasi dan pemberitaan media.
Kata Kunci: persepsi sosial, mahasiswa, toleransi beragama