Book Review: A Generation Divided: The New Left,The New Right,and the 1960s. By Rebecca E. Klatch. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999. 386 pages,paperback, ISBN: 0-520-21714-4

Qualitative Sociology -     

PATTERNS OF RELIGIOUS MOBILITY AMONG BLACK AMERICANS

Using data from the National Survey of Black Americans (NSBA) and the General Social Survey (GSS), this study tests hypotheses distilled from two competing perspectives on black religious mobility. First, some analysts during the 1960s predicted that the rise of economic ambition and political militancy among blacks would foster discontent with the "otherworldly" black mainline churches. These researchers projected high levels of switching and burgeoning apostasy. Second, however, there are reasons to anticipate much more stable patterns of black religious affiliation. Recent research stresses that social embeddedness, cultural solidarity, and personal spirituality are more important influences on black religious behavior than are status-seeking or sociopolitical concerns. Except for rising apostasy, the findings of this study are broadly consistent with the second perspective. Several directions for future research on the religious mobility of black Americans are suggested.     

Religion, politics, and support for same-sex marriage in the United States, 1988-2008

We examine how religious and political factors structure support for same-sex marriage in the United States over the last two decades. Using data from the General Social Surveys, we show that respondents who identify more strongly with the Republican Party, sectarian denominations, and those who subscribe to biblical fundamentalism and political conservatism are substantially more opposed to same-sex marriage than are other Americans. Heterogeneous ordinal logistic regression models show that these religious and political factors have become more important over the last two decades. Cohorts born after 1945 became substantially more supportive of marriage rights between 1988 and 2008, but shifts in support for marriage rights were less sizeable for persons affiliated with sectarian denominations, religious fundamentalists, Republicans, and political conservatives. Estimates from structural equation models show that religious factors influence political conservatism and Republican identification, yet both religious and political factors have significant and substantial independent direct effects on support for same-sex marriage.     

BEYOND BELIEF: ATHEISM,AGNOSTICISM, AND THEISTIC CERTAINTY IN THE UNITED STATES

Atheism, agnosticism, and undoubting belief in a one true god are pivotal issues distinguishing religious adherents. Shifts in the rates of atheism and agnosticism can influence the composition of religious markets. Demand side rational actor models and the new demographic approach to religious commitments emphasize the influence of life course dynamics on religious desires. I examine multiple predictors of different types of belief in God using data from the General Social Surveys. I employ ordinal logistic regression to test the effects of social status, gender, race, region and city size, family structure, and denominational affiliation on the odds of being an atheist, agnostic, doubting believer, or a consistent believer. I also examine trends in these belief configurations, and whether cohort variations might evidence a coming shift in the relative rates of belief and unbelief.     

Race,Religion, and Opposition to Same‐Sex Marriage*

Objective. We examine racial differences in support for same‐sex marriage, and test whether the emerging black‐white gap is a function of religiosity. We explore how religious factors play a crucial role in racial differences, and how secular factors have varying effects on attitudes for whites and African Americans. Methods. Using data from the General Social Surveys, we estimate ordinal logistic regression models and stacked structural equation models. Results. We show that the racial divide is a function of African Americans' ties to sectarian Protestant religious denominations and high rates of church attendance. We also show racial differences in the influence of education and political values on opposition to same sex marriage. Conclusions. Religious factors are a source of racial differences in support for same‐sex marriage, and secular influences play less of a role in structuring African Americans' beliefs about same‐sex marriage.     

Religious intermarriage in the United States: trends, patterns, and predictors

The reciprocal connection between religion and family life makes the topic of religious intermarriage of particular importance in the sociology of religion. Spousal influences are key for motivating religious switching and other religious commitments. Religious intermarriage has also been shown to influence a host of other outcomes, including spousal conflict, domestic violence, divorce, and fertility. Using data from the 1973–1994 GSS, I estimate log-multiplicative models examining patterns of association between spouses’ religious affiliations across two broad cohorts. Two-step and FIML Heckman’s selection models are used to determine how education, migration, cohort, and denominational origins influence the probability of intermarriage and the distance of intermarriage if it occurs. Religious intermarriage increases across cohorts, but declines in homogamy are limited to liberal religious groups. Catholics and members of conservative sects are less likely to intermarry compared to others. The relative ordering of distances between religious groups was unchanged across cohorts. Educational attainment increases the likelihood of intermarriage, and marriages in which the woman has more education are more likely to be heterogamous. However, educational factors have no impact on the distance of intermarriage if it occurs. Geographically stable rural Southerners are least likely to intermarry and if they do, choose a more similar spouse.     

The effects of religion and social support on self-esteem and depression among the suddenly bereaved

This study examines the effects of religion and of the quantity and quality of social support on self-esteem and depression among the suddenly bereaved. Data are collected from medical examiner records and mail-back surveys from family members of victims of suicides and accidental deaths in a large metropolitan area of the United States. Recursive models of church attendance and social support on well-being are estimated using generalized least squares. We find that religious participation significantly increases self-esteem, but has no significant effect on depression. The findings also indicate that frequency of contact with friends and relatives, confiding with friends and relatives, and quality of recieved expressive support independently predict both self-esteem and depression.