Exploring the Relationship between Secularity and Marital Behavior

The higher religiosity of women is a longstanding feature of the religious landscape in the Western World. With the recent vibrancy of secular movements, the greater religiosity of women is reflected in a gender imbalance within the secular groups. For instance, more than three quarters of American atheists are male. Given the effects of both religiosity and secularity on worldview and lifestyle, this gender imbalance is likely consequential for marital behavior and outcomes. Using the latest cycle of the Canadian General Social Survey focused on family, this paper examines how marital behavior of individuals without any tie with religion or spirituality compares with others. Secular males are found appreciably more likely to experience marital dissolution, whereas their female counterparts are shown no different from others. This result lends support to the theories that posit religiosity as a complementary marital trait, requiring the mating of the like. The analysis also indicates that union formation behavior of secular females manifests a larger shift away from the traditional conceptions of marriage compared with secular males. Various explanations are explored.     

Religious change and alcohol use: An application of reference group and socialization theory

This paper illustrates how religiosity influences behavior in everyday life by investigating the link between religious change and alcohol consumption. Reference group and socialization theory provide theoretical grounds for understanding this relationship.     

Agents of Religious Socialization Among American Jews*

This study analyzes the process of religious socialization among American Jews using a sample of Chicago area adults. Two studies of Catholic schooling by Andrew Greeley and co-authors provides a conceptual framework. In addition to religious schooling, parental religiosity and spouse's religiosity analyzed in the Catholic school studies, this paper considers the effects of peer influences, youth group participation, and summer camping. An explanatory (path) model of religious socialization is developed. The findings indicate that four agents of religious socialization are consistently the best predictors of all types of adult religious involvement. They rank differently, however, in their predictive power. Contrary to many previous studies, these data show that parental influences tend to be more indirect than direct, mainly performing a channeling function; religious schooling has both substantial direct and indirect effects; and adult experiences are often more important than childhood experiences in the socialization process.     

Belonging,believing, behaving,and Brexit: Channels of religiosity and religious identity in support for leaving the European Union*

Having an Anglican affiliation is known to be associated with support for leaving the European Union (EU) in Britain. Religiosity, conceived as strength of religious attachment, has received comparatively little treatment. We investigate religiosity via electoral, household, and attitudinal surveys, distinguishing the effects of “behaving” and “believing.” The association between religiosity and EU Referendum vote choice and position is identified before and after inclusion of values, attitudinal, and civic engagement measures. Consistent with established findings, in socio-structural models Anglicans are more likely to support Brexit than religious Nones. More frequent church attendance is associated with being more pro-Remain. The Anglican effect is primarily mediated by anti-immigrant attitudes, authoritarianism, and salience of ethnic identity, suggesting a Christian nationalist aspect to Leave support. The attendance effect is mediated by warmer attitudes toward immigrants, and social capital. Notably, those exhibiting stronger orthodox belief tend to feature a stronger attachment to “Leave,” with this partly mediated by authoritarianism. To evaluate the net effect of religion on civic life, we should pay more attention to the cultural content of religious beliefs, and how they structure other values and attitudes.     

Religiosity as a predictor of students' political attitudes

This paper analyzes the relationship between students' level of actual religiosity and their sociodemographic characteristics, political orientation, and political attitudes. The paper is based on an online survey conducted at the University of Rijeka (N = 624) in 2021. The vast majority of our respondents (90%) received the three holy sacraments of initiation in their early childhood and attended Catholic religious education at school. The explanation of the significantly less actual religiosity of students is approached from the position of Pickel's contextualized theory of secularization. Relying on Voas and Day, a composite variable distinguishes highly religious students, moderately religious students, weakly religious students, and non-religious students on the basis of the respondents' positioning toward religious self-identification, beliefs, Church attendance, and the importance of religion in one's life. Statistically significant correlations between actual religiosity and political orientation were established. Very religious Catholic students, who are the least numerous and the least homogenous category, are more inclined to right-wing political orientation and reject ethno-nationalism/anti-multiculturalism less and accept clericalism more than other categories of students. In a broader sense, this study reveals that a large number of respondents distance themselves from religion and the Church at student age despite their experience of formal religious socialization at school age. Furthermore, the results suggest that the synergy of the liberalizing effect of education and the tolerant sociocultural atmosphere of an area reduces the influence of religiosity on the political attitudes and orientation of students.     

Religiosity as a Determinant of Educational Attainment: The Case of Conservative Protestant Women in the United States

This paper examines the role of religiosity as a determinant of the educational attainment of women raised as conservative Protestants in the United States. A human capital model based on the demand and supply of funds for investments in education is used to develop hypotheses about various causal links between religiosity and years of schooling. The hypotheses are tested using data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth, a large-scale survey addressed to a representative sample of women in the United States. Among respondents raised as conservative Protestants, those who attended religious services frequently during their adolescent years are found to complete one more year of schooling than their counterparts who were less observant. The gap is smaller, but still sizeable and statistically significant, when other factors are held constant in a multivariate analysis. The empirical results are consistent with the hypothesis that positive demand-side influences are dominant and explain the observed association between religiosity and educational attainment.     

The Impact of Religiosity on Health Behaviors and Obesity among African Americans

Religion has been associated with good physical health and may represent a protective factor against overweight and obesity. This study explored dimensions of religiosity associated with health behaviors—eating habits and physical activity—and obesity in the African American population. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were analyzed for 3,620 African American adults ages 28 to 34. A structural equation model (path model) revealed that high levels of church attendance combined with religious practice encouraged healthy eating habits. However, increasing time spent in prayer while making religion more important in life was associated with poor eating habits. More frequent church attendance and prayer were implicated in heightened levels of obesity, suggesting that various dimensions of religiosity were constructed differently with health behaviors and obesity.     

Where Does Religion Matter Most? Personal Religiosity and the Acceptability of Wife‐beating in Cross‐National Perspective

Does religion justify violent acts against wives, or does it reduce approval of this type of intimate partner violence? We examine whether personal religiosity raises or lowers the acceptability of wife‐beating. In addition, we investigate how the relationship between personal religiosity and attitudes toward wife‐beating differs depending on the overall normative context of the country where a person lives. Using multilevel modeling with data from the fifth wave of the World Values Survey (2005–2008), we find that greater individual‐level religiosity reduces the acceptability of wife‐beating. More importantly, cross‐level interactions show that these reductions are greatest in countries where there is a general lack of normative restraint as measured by the “anomie” scale. These observations suggest that religiosity may influence an individual's norms the most in countries where secular controls are absent or weak.     

Exploring hope as a mediator between religiosity and depression in adolescents

ABSTRACT

Multiple studies have found an inverse relationship between adolescent religiosity and adolescent depression. However, further research is needed to better understand the complexity of this relationship. One potential mediator that may help to explain this relationship is hope. Prior research has found that adolescent religiosity is predictive of increased adolescent hope and that higher levels of adolescent hope have been associated with multiple positive outcomes, including mental health in adolescents. However, no research has explored the mediational role of hope between religiosity and depressive symptoms in adolescents. Cross-sectional data from 459 adolescents were used to test this mediational or indirect effect. The direct effect between religiosity and depressive symptoms was not significant. However, there was a significant indirect effect whereby higher levels of adolescent religiosity were associated with higher levels of adolescent hope, which in turn were associated with lower levels of adolescent depressive symptoms.     

Assessing God Locus of Control as a Factor in College Students’ Alcohol Use and Sexual Behavior

Abstract. Objectives: This study explored God locus of control beliefs (ie, God's control over behavior) regarding their influence on alcohol use and sexual behavior as an alternative religiosity measure to religious behaviors, which does not capture perceived influence of religiosity. Additionally, demographic differences in religious beliefs were explored. Methods: College students aged 18–24 (N = 324) completed a survey between April 2012 and March 2013. Principal components and multivariate analyses were conducted. Results: Findings suggest that measures provide reliable, valid data from college students. God locus of control is linked to not consuming alcohol or engaging in sex. There were differences regarding relationship status and religious denomination. Conclusions: God locus of control beliefs are an appropriate construct for collecting data about college students’ religiosity. Furthermore, health educators at faith-based institutions could incorporate this construct into their programming, encouraging abstinence but also behaving responsibly for those who do drink and are sexually experienced.     

Typen religiöser Sozialformen und ihre Bedeutung für die Analyse religiösen Wandels in Deutschland

The article examines different forms of institutionalization of religion in Germany since the 1950s. Going beyond the classical church-sect dichotomy, we discuss in a theoretical part communities, organizations, market relations, movements and events as possible candidates for the structuring of religious communication. In an empirical part, we outline recent changes of social forms in Germany. By addressing divergent trajectories in the major German churches, smaller Christian denominations, immigrant religions and the evolving spectrum of new religiosity, we show that a general trend is not observable. The developments do not prove the often claimed ‘end of religious communities’. It rather seems that modernity produces a variety of religious social forms that seem to balance the tension between communalization (Vergemeinschaftung) and socialization (Vergesellschaftung).     

Predicting Work Outcomes From Religiosity and Perceived Calling

Research suggests that individuals who perceive their work as a calling experience a variety of positive outcomes, such as occupational identification, career decidedness, and job satisfaction. The present study examined how calling and religiosity interact to influence workplace cognition and behavior. Using a self‐regulatory, multiple‐goals perspective, the author proposed that individuals with greater religiosity would report lower job involvement and work fewer hours. However, this relationship would attenuate or reverse if individuals perceived a transcendent summons calling them to their jobs. In the present study, 233 employed adults reported perceptions of calling, religiosity, job involvement, and hours worked. Calling and religiosity interacted in the hypothesized manner when predicting both job involvement, ΔR² = .02, and hours worked, ΔR² = .02, although job involvement did not mediate the relationship between calling, religiosity, and hours worked. The results suggest that career counselors and researchers pay particular attention to the role of calling among religious individuals.     

Mere religiosity is not enough! Spirituality strengthens the relations between religiosity and positive youth development

Although prior research shows that either religiosity or spirituality facilitates well-being, the interaction of both constructs in predicting positive youth development (PYD) in collectivistic contexts remains unknown. This study examined the moderating role of spirituality on the link between religiosity and PYD, including each of its Cs (i.e., competence, confidence, connection, character, and caring) among 1116 Filipino adolescents. Results demonstrate that both religiosity and spirituality are positively correlated with PYD and its dimensions. Furthermore, there is a significant interaction between religiosity and spirituality for the overall PYD construct and the socio-emotional Cs (i.e., connection, character, and caring). This study highlights the importance of young people's sense of connection with something beyond than themselves (i.e., spirituality) in promoting adolescent thriving.     

Lesbian,gay, and bisexual religiosity across the life span: Associations with group identification and identity salience

This study explores the intersection of sexual and religious identities in lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals by looking at variables associated with religiosity in this community. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis was used to explore variables that are associated with religiosity in sexual minority individuals. Religious history, connection to the LGB community, and being a person of color were associated with higher levels of religiosity. Feeling that one’s LGB identity is an important part of their identity was associated with lower levels of religiosity. Implications for the LGB community are discussed.     

Analyzing Religiosity within an Economic Framework: The Case of Spanish Catholics

Using a sample of Spanish Catholics, we examined the level of religiosity (measured by beliefs, prayer and church attendance) and the relationship between religiosity and various socio-economic variables. An Ordered Logit estimation of religiosity equations showed that: women are more religious than men; religious activity increases with age; there is a (marginally) significant positive relationship between schooling and religiosity; religiosity is positively related to exposure to religious activity during childhood; and male religious activity is positively affected by marital status (being married to a Catholic wife) and by the number of children at home. The results also demonstrate the importance of the "salvation motive" for the two genders and the presence of the "professional utilitarian motive" in male religious behavior.     

Peer Relationships and Indonesian Muslim Adolescents' Religiosity and Religious Coping: Selection and Influence

The religious similarity of adolescents and their friends can arise from selection or influence. Prior studies were limited because of confounds that arose from the ethnic and religious heterogeneity of the samples and the use of cross-sectional designs. SIENA was used in this two-year longitudinal study of 825 Indonesian Muslim high school students (445 girls; mean age = 16.5 years) to assess peer selection and influence as these pertained to religiosity and religious coping. The analyses yielded significant influence but not selection effects for both religiosity and religious coping. This study is an important methodological advance over prior research and although limited by correlational data, nevertheless, provides evidence that adolescents influence their peers' religiousness.     

Religiosity,sexual behaviors,sexual motivations,and gender: A three-year longitudinal study

Longitudinal data are critical for examining associations of religiosity with sexual behaviors and motivations during college. We use hierarchical linear modeling on five semesters of data from a diverse sample of college students (N = 735) to examine within- and between-person associations between religious service attendance and importance of religion and sexual behaviors and motivations for and against sex and consider gender as a moderator. Between-person religiosity was associated with sexual behaviors and motivations whereas within-person religiosity was not. Students' sexual motivations co-varied across semesters with their religious service attendance and importance of religion. Our results indicated more restrictive associations between religiosity and sexual motivations for women than for men.     

Deinstitutionalisierung des Religiösen und Religiöse Individualisierung in Ost- und Westdeutschland

Luckmann’s thesis of “invisible religion” which is based on religious individualization attracts great attention within the field of sociology of religion in the German speaking countries. It states that religion currently is not loosing social relevance, but that current religious changes are characterized by processes of religious individualization in which subjectively constructed, syncretistic, and non-institutionalized systems of ultimate meaning are replacing traditional Christian religious forms. Thus, the thesis contradicts the theory of secularization processes. On the basis of two surveys carried out by the authors, the paper looks for empirical evidence to support this thesis. Three dimensions of religion are distinguished: traditional church affiliation, individual Christian religiosity, and non-church religiosity. Additionally, an individualization index is constructed. The analysis shows that processes of de-institutionalization of religion can be observed, but forms of nonchurch or non-Christian religiosity do not constitute serious alternatives to church adherence and Christian religiosity. Secularization and religious individualization are not two diametrically opposed processes. The trend towards secularization is prevailing in Germany and the tendencies towards religious individualization are components of this pre-dominant trend.     

Religion, religiosity and educational attainment of immigrants to the USA

This paper quantifies the association between religions, religiosity and educational attainment of new lawful immigrants to the US. This paper considers a broad set of religions that includes most of the major religions of the world. Using data from the New Immigrant Survey (2003), we show that affiliation with religion is not necessarily associated with an increase in educational attainment. Muslim and “Other religion” immigrants have less education compared to the immigrants who are not affiliated with any religion. However, affiliation with the Jewish religion is associated with higher educational attainment for males. With regard to religiosity, our results show that high religiosity is associated with lower educational attainment, especially for females. We also outline alternative frameworks that provide insight about the mechanisms that link religion and religiosity with educational attainment.     

How secular is Europe?

A large body of literature has developed, yielding evidence that religion in general and Churches and Church leaders in particular have lost their once dominant position in contemporary Europe. Evidence is often cited in declining levels of church attendance. Whether Europe should also be qualified as secularized in terms of religious beliefs remains unclear. In this paper we investigate the degree to which European people are secular, focusing not only on religious practices, but also on beliefs. We argue that trajectories of religious change occur all over Europe, but not at similar speeds. We formulate hypotheses regarding the differences in the degree to which individuals and societies are secularized. Data from the recent European Values Study surveys are used to empirically test these hypotheses concerning patterns of variation in religious beliefs and practices. The findings provide evidence in favour of secularization theories and in contradiction to rational choice theories. In Europe, religious pluralism produces not higher levels, but lower levels of religiosity. The findings also reveal that religious denomination as well as cultural and socio-economic heritages are important factors in explaining the patchwork pattern in levels of religiosity and religious participation in contemporary Europe.