Religious Affiliation and Marital Duration Among Those Who File for Divorce in California, 1966-1971

A two percent random sample of couples filing for divorce in California from 1966 through 1971 provides the data base for this study of religious affiliation and duration of marriage to separation. Our goal is twofold: to test the hypothesis that religious affiliation is related to marital duration to separation in the divorcing population, and to examine the conditions under which this relationship holds by using elaboration analysis. Our findings are in the expected direction for the most part, namely, that the percentage of individuals whose marriages lasted five years or more before separation was higher for Jewish and slightly higher for other (Conservative) Protestants, than for the National Council Protestants (Liberal) or Roman Catholics or those reporting no religious affiliation. Thus religious affiliation does make some differences. In addition, this finding holds true for the most part when we controlled on a series of third variables to see what impact they had on the zero order relationship.     

THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF RELIGIOUS INTEGRATION AND SUICIDE:

Recent research suggests that Durkheimian ideas on the impact of religious affiliation on suicide need to be updated and tailored to the modern cultural landscape of the United States. Following up on the importance of how historical context has shifted the integrative power of denominational networks, this article pursues the potential utility of a networks, perspective by suggesting that a significant contextual element has been neglected to date: Geographical context, both regional and rural-urban dimensions, also delimits the differential ability of religions to form a "community' of social support capable of integrating individuals. If the network approach provides a useful direction, the effects of religious affiliation across geographical areas should vary in a manner consistent with notions of how social structural opportunity and tradition (of lack thereof) affect religious network strength. Analyses of detailed suicide, religion, and sociodemographic data by region and population density in U.S. county groups do, in fact, indicate that for many major religious groups the effects of religious affiliation on suicide vary across geographical areas, consistent with network theory. For example, while Judaism's protective effect is small overall, it is large in the Northeast and reversed in the South. The protective strength also is reversed for Catholicism in the South and many Evangelical Protestant groups in the Northeast. Overall, the results suggest that region exerts a greater impact on religious affiliation effects than does population density, though the latter does impact on Catholic and Jewish effects.     

Attitudes of Muslim Americans toward Homosexuality and Marriage Equality: Moving Beyond Simply Understanding Christian Public Opinions

A number of studies have found a relationship between religious affiliation and attitudes toward LGBQ individuals. To date, however, research on religious attitudes has focused primarily on Christians. We expanded upon existing research by including two of the three largest U.S. religions previously overlooked—Islam and Judaism. We used data from the 2014 Religious Landscape Study, which provided a larger sample of Jewish (n = 475) and Muslim (n = 135) respondents than most public opinion surveys. We found that Muslim and Protestant participants were the least accepting of homosexuality and supportive of same-sex marriage compared with Roman Catholic and Jewish participants. Results also showed that fundamentalism and religiosity were significant predictors of attitudes toward homosexuality and same-sex marriage across all participants, regardless of denomination. Implications for future research and data collection efforts learned from this study are discussed.     

Conservative Protestantism and Paternal Engagement in Fragile Families1

Research consistently shows that married conservative Protestant fathers are more engaged with their children than otherwise comparable married fathers. Unfortunately, no research examines the relationship between conservative Protestantism and paternal engagement among unmarried men. Likewise, no research considers whether married and unmarried conservative Protestant fathers’ levels of paternal engagement differ more than they do for other married and unmarried fathers. This article considers these research questions using data from three waves of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study—a longitudinal study of mostly unmarried parents residing in urban areas with populations in excess of 200,000. Results demonstrate that conservative Protestantism is negatively associated with paternal engagement among unmarried fathers and that married and unmarried fathers’ levels of engagement with their children do not differ more than other married and unmarried fathers’ levels of engagement with their children. The finding that conservative Protestantism depresses paternal engagement among urban, unmarried fathers is especially important since it shows that affiliation with a conservative religious denomination may further disadvantage children already at elevated risk of having less engaged fathers.     

Does Conservative Protestantism Moderate the Association Between Corporal Punishment and Child Outcomes?

Using longitudinal data from a sample of 456 focal children in the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), this study examined two research questions: (a) Does corporal punishment of young children (ages 2–4 at baseline) predict increases in levels of externalizing and internalizing problems over a 5‐year study period? (b) Does the religion of the mother—specifically, her conservative Protestant affiliation and conservative beliefs about the Bible—moderate the estimated net effects of corporal punishment? Results revealed that early spanking alone was not associated with adjustment difficulties, but spanking that persisted into or began in middle childhood was associated with difficulties. In contrast to their counterparts from other (or no) religious backgrounds, children whose mothers belonged to conservative Protestant groups exhibited minimal adverse effects of corporal punishment. Several conclusions, limitations, and promising directions for future research are identified.     

An Examination of Gender Differences in Attitudes Toward Divorce

ABSTRACT

Using the General Social Survey, this article examines the gender difference in attitudes toward divorce. Although previous studies have found that women have more tolerant attitudes toward divorce compared to men, we find that this gender difference depends on the measure. Our analysis indicates that women are more likely than men to advocate making divorce more difficult to obtain. We find a significant link between the Protestant faith and conservative attitudes toward divorce; taking into account religious factors reduced the gender difference in attitudes. Consistent with prior literature, our results indicate that different factors affect men's and women's views of divorce.     

The Influence of Religion on Latino Education,Marriage, and Social Views in the United States

ABSTRACT

This study analyzes the Hispanic Churches in American Public Life National Survey (n = 2,060) data set to examine the relationship between religious affiliation and commitment and education, marital status, and social views in the U.S. Latino community. The findings indicate that religious affiliation and high rates of religious participation and commitment are important factors that are positively and negatively related to Latino education, marriage, and social action. This study found a positive relationship between high rates of religious participation and commitment and high rates of marriage, social action, and conservative views on church–state relations and social issues like abortion and homosexual relations, but not on other social views like the death penalty and the ordination of women. In general, conservative religiosity (in this case Protestant Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism) is positively related to high rates of marriage and social action. However, the data also suggest that high rates of religious participation and commitment do not necessarily result in higher income and educational levels, although this may be due to the fact that many Latinos recently converted from Catholicism to Protestantism and thus have not had a chance to adopt and benefit from Protestant educational attitudes and resources.     

Religious Influences on the Risk of Marital Dissolution

This study examined multiple dimensions of religious involvement and the risk of divorce among a nationwide sample of 2,979 first‐time married couples. Multivariate proportional hazards modeling was used to analyze two waves of the National Survey of Families and Households. Results indicated that although each partner's religious attendance bore a modest relationship to marital dissolution, the risk of divorce was lower if husbands had conservative theological beliefs and when both partners belonged to mainline Protestant denominations. Conversely, the risk of divorce was elevated if husbands attended services more frequently than their wives and if wives were more theologically conservative than their husbands. These patterns withstood controls for sociodemographic covariates, marital duration, and marital quality. Directions for future research are discussed.     

An Interpersonal Influence Model of Traditional Religious Commitment*

Typically, explanations of traditional religious commitment have relied on economic deprivation or sociodemographic variables. An alternative explanation was developed based on social control and participation in the activities of the congregation. It was predicted that the most important determinant of individual religious commitment would be denominational affiliation; the denomination establishes the expectations with regard to religious belief. It was also predicted that social participation variables, which determine the extent to which the individual is integrated into the congregation, would also be important. Testing the model with data broadly representative of the Protestant churchgoing population, it was found that denominational affiliation, church attendance and intra-congregational friendships were generally the three most important predictors of three traditional religious commitment measures. Other variables—education, occupation, gender, age and region of birth—made insignificant or small contributions to explained variance.     

Athletic Involvement,Academic Achievement,and Aspiration

Abstract

Prior to World War II, religion in America was characterized by a tripartite system of Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish groups. More recently, Robert Wuthnow (1988), James Davison Hunter (1991), and others have argued that religion in America has been “restructured” into a two-party system, consisting of liberals within these religions on one side and conservatives on the other. Most empirical research examining the restructuring of religion in America focuses on the two-party division within Protestant religious advocacy groups, noting how some Protestant groups are politically more similar to Catholics than to other Protestants. Little work has examined the extent to which this phenomenon applies to Washington offices, which are formally tied to parent religious bodies, particularly Jewish groups. By conducting interviews with Washington office leaders and examining office materials and websites during the 108th Congress, this study seeks to answer the question: How does the thesis of the restructuring of religion in America apply to 15 Washington offices? Results suggest the thesis applies to both Protestant and Jewish Washington offices. The priorities of liberal offices, such as social welfare and economic justice issues, differ from those of conservative offices that focus on life and morality concerns.     

Religion,Age, and Crime: Do Religious Traditions Differentially Impact Juvenile Versus Adult Violence?

A growing body of empirical research demonstrates that the relative presence of religious adherents at the community-level has important relationships with rates of crime and violence. Less understood is how adherence to specific religious traditions (e.g., evangelical Protestant, Catholic, mainline Protestant) is associated with rates of crime, especially across particular age groups toward which religious traditions devote varying degrees of structural and cultural resources. Using data from the Religious Congregations and Membership Survey and age-specific arrest data from the Uniform Crime Reporting program in 2010, the current study finds that the impact of religious adherence on crime varies by religious tradition and across juvenile versus adult crime. Specifically, evangelical Protestant adherence is negatively associated with juvenile but not adult violence, while Catholic adherence is associated with reduced adult but not juvenile violence, net of controls. Implications for research on religious contexts and crime, as well as policy, are discussed.     

Does Religion Make a Difference? Assessing the Effects of Christian Affiliation and Practice on Marital Solidarity and Divorce in Britain, 1985–2005

Frequency of divorce and separation among 15,714 adults from the British Social Attitudes data set for 1985–2005 peaked at around 50 years of age, and increased significantly over the period of study. Ratios of marital breakdown were compared between those of no religious affiliation and Christian affiliates with different levels of church attendance. Frequent Christian attendees were 1.5 times less likely to suffer marital breakdown than nonaffiliates, but there was no difference between nonattending Christian affiliates and those of no religion. Infrequent Christian attendees were 1.3 times less likely to suffer marital breakdown compared to nonaffiliates, suggesting that even infrequent church attendance might have some significance for predicting the persistence of marital solidarity.     

Random Drug Testing and Religion*

Research recently has begun to examine the link between religion and social control. It has been noted that religion, in particular Protestant conservatism, does play a role in shaping public opinion, and as a result, public policy on crime, crime control, and justice. The present research examines the issue of public support for random drug testing by focusing on the role of religion, specifically religious affiliation, in shaping public opinion. Analysis of survey data from a city in the Southwest identifies two separate dimensions of public support for random drug testing–a utilitarian dimension that is grounded in safety concerns, along with a normative dimension that reflects conservative moral beliefs, including a concern with the “evil” of drugs. Evidence from the data also indicates that conservative Protestants, compared to liberal-moderate Protestants, Catholics, and those with no affiliation, display higher levels of normative-based support for random drug testing. Researchers are encouraged to further explore the role of religion in shaping public support for the development of drug policies and other more general social control policies.     

The Impact of Religious Homogeneity on the Rate of Divorce in the United States

This study extends the understanding of the relationship between religious homogeneity, that is, the extent to which formal religious groups are concentrated at the county level, and the rate of persons currently divorced in those counties. Linking the research question to Durkheimian precepts of religion as an integrative force in social life, the essential question is, “At the county level, does the rate of currently divorced vary inversely with more concentrated affiliation with formal religious organizations?” We investigate this relationship using data from the 1990 U.S. Census and from the Glenmary Research Center that encompasses 621 counties in the U.S., that is, a 20 percent random sample of counties from each state. As hypothesized, the divorced rate is inversely related to religious homogeneity, even after controlling for a series of factors that have been shown to be correlated with divorce in other studies.     

A New Approach to Jewish Divorce

The traditional Jewish law of divorce, which permits a husband to divorce his wife, but does not sanction the wife's divorcing him, has created hardship for Jewish women for centuries. In view of the new attitudes toward the equality of women, the rabbis of the Reconstructionist Movement in Judaism have innovated an egalitarian "get" (divorce), a bold effort to prevent Jewish women from becoming agunot (abandoned wives.) By means of the new type of divorce, the Jewish woman takes the initiative and divorces the husband.     

Body Dissatisfaction and the Relevance of Religiosity: A Focus on Ultra-Orthodox Jews in a Community Study of Adult Women

Body image dissatisfaction (BID) is one of the most robust risk factors associated with eating disturbances. However, much remains unknown about it especially regarding a potentially protective factor, namely religiosity. As shown in hundreds of studies, religiosity has consistently been associated with better health and mental health outcomes. Utilizing a large, community-based study of adult Jewish women, we compare ultra-Orthodox and Secular Jewish women, two groups at opposite ends of the religious observance spectrum. Detailed telephone interviews were conducted with a broadly representative sample of adult women (mean age 44) in Israel from distinct religious observance groups. Frequency of 13 BID symptoms was assessed in addition to two clinical correlates, weight and self-criticism. Separate hierarchical regressions use bootstrapping to explore predictors of BID severity within each group. Contrary to expectations, no significant differences in body dissatisfaction emerge between rigorously religious and non-religious Jewish respondents. In addition, the findings reveal surprisingly similar patterns of predictors of BID severity with self-criticism making a noteworthy contribution for both groups. However, despite strong similarities, it is premature to dismiss potentially protective aspects of religiosity vis-à-vis BID without additional studies. In the interim, clinical prevention and treatment interventions that focus on reducing self-criticism may be extremely important for addressing BID issues among adult women—regardless of degree of religious observance.     

Preserving Patriarchy: Assimilation,Gender Norms,and Second-Generation Korean American Evangelicals

This ethnographic study of a second-generation Korean American Protestant congregation explores the role of religion in assimilation, focusing on emerging gender and family norms. The study found that individuals maintained a substantial commitment to patriarchal gender norms and articulated these norms in language consistent with American evangelical theology rather than in ethnic/cultural terms. Members were also influenced by egalitarian norms from the broader American society, and women in particular offered partial resistance to female subordination. The findings suggest that religious affiliation should be given consideration alongside economic variables in analyzing assimilation trajectories among the new second generation.     

Patterns of social affiliation as predictors of depressive symptoms among urban blacks.

This paper focuses on patterns of social affiliation viewed historically as sociocultural adaptations to stresses associated with minority group status. Data are from a community-based sample of 927 Black adults residing in a large metropolitan area. Specifically, this analysis assesses the extent to which patterns of social affiliation such as close family ties, religious involvement, and participation in voluntary associations diminish the detrimental impact of chronic economic strain on the level of depressive symptoms. The findings provide no support for a sociocultural adaptation explanation. Moreover, the results show an unexpected relationship among religious involvement, chronic economic strain, and depressive symptoms. At the most intense levels of religious involvement, a significantly higher level of depressive symptomatology was evident among those experiencing chronic economic strain. In contrast, those with less religious involvement had fewer depressive symptoms when experiencing chronic economic strain. Implications of findings are discussed relative to social changes affecting patterns of affiliation and sociocultural adaptation in Black communities.     

Marital Outcomes and Consideration of Divorce Among Orthodox Jews After Signing a Religious Prenuptial Agreement to Facilitate Future Divorce

This study examined marital satisfaction, marital adjustment, and consideration of divorce among Orthodox Jews in North America (N = 2,652). These marital outcomes were compared for individuals who signed or did not sign a religious prenuptial agreement that facilitates a woman’s future ability to receive a religious divorce from her husband. Results indicated a higher level of marital satisfaction among those who signed the religious prenuptial agreement, and no significant difference in marital adjustment or tendency to consider divorce between groups of individuals who signed or did not sign the religious prenuptial agreement.