1,720,975 research outputs found
Gender and status in the religious congregation.
No full textEver since Max Weber distinguished differences in “social esteem” between categories of people, status has been a fundamental concept in the sociological analysis of inequality. Gender is a status system that creates a hierarchy between men and women, and men have historically held higher status. The goal of this dissertation is to explore how gendered status hierarchies affect religious congregations. As organizations guided by normative beliefs, congregations have the power to create and maintain status differences between men and women through their structure, culture, and rituals.
Through three quantitative analyses using multilevel modeling with the United States Congregational Life Survey, I explore how gendered status hierarchies affect different levels of religious congregations: the head clergy, volunteer lay leadership, and subjective ritual experiences. In Chapter Two, I use role congruity theory to illustrate how gender impacts congregants’ perceptions of their clergy, especially in light of their leadership style. Congregants view female clergy similarly than male clergy, except for when they breach gender norms and lead with a more masculine style. Chapter Three, addresses the relationship between the gender gap in congregational lay leadership and the organization’s resources by using the micro-level expectation states theory at the meso-level. Women are more likely to be volunteer leaders when they are in resource-rich congregations. Chapter Four, extends interaction ritual chain theory to show that gender has a powerful influence on ritual outcomes. I demonstrate that men have lower levels of emotional expression in worship services and that the surrounding gender ratio within the ritual has the power to impact males’ subjective ritual experiences.
The findings within this dissertation ultimately show gender’s power as a status system within religious congregations. These are deeply gendered organizations, and their leadership, structure, and rituals continue to be affected by status hierarchies between women and men. Yet, gender’s power within religious congregations is not absolute. Dynamics within congregations, such as the clergy’s leadership style or the organization’s resources, can mitigate the gender system
A different kind of evangelical : an examination of the political diversity that exists within evangelical Protestantism.
No full textWhile anecdotally people understand that not all evangelicals are white, Republican, conservatives who only vote for Republicans little research has been done to support these anecdotes. In this dissertation, I analyze nationally representative samples of adults in the United States in order to: 1) describe the cross-pressures that people face when their political identity is not in line with the majority of political identities in their religious tradition; 2) examine how different groups of evangelicals, based on party identification and political ideology, report the most important problem facing the United States today; and 3) uncover diversity that exists within evangelicalism using their policy preferences (operational ideology) and not just their self-reported political ideology (symbolic ideology). The results from these analyses will allow researchers to better understand that diversity of thought exists within evangelicalism, and it will help add complexity and diversity to the study of evangelicals
Salience and congregational growth : revisiting the strictness thesis.
No full textSince Kelley's (1972) Why Conservative Churches Are Growing, scholars have examined the relationship between congregational strictness and growth. This paper seeks to further develop the strict church thesis by suggesting that strictness leads to growth when it addresses salient issues. Using binary logistic regression to analyze data from the 2000 Faith Communities Today survey, I find that, while overall strictness continues to be positively associated with congregational growth, only prohibitions that are salient within a religious tradition have an impact on congregational growth. Therefore, this study supports a more nuanced understanding of strictness. Strictness does not always lead to congregational growth. Instead, growth is contingent upon an issue's salience
Religious participation during the quarter-life crisis : examining the relationship between congregations and emerging adults.
No full textThe transitional years experienced by emerging adults (ages 18-24) are characterized by an evident decrease of religiosity. Emerging adults consistently report lower levels of prayer, strong affiliation, religious service attendance and religious identity compared to their older counterparts (Uecker, Regnerus, & Vaaler, 2007; Smith & Snell, 2009). While the significance of this pattern has been recognized, very little empirical research has addressed the role of religious congregations in the lives of emerging adults. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the relationship between congregations and emerging adults. Using a variety of quantitative techniques, I investigate: 1) characteristics related to discontentment with congregations during emerging adulthood, 2) characteristics associated with a congregation’s ability to attract emerging adults, and 3) emerging adults’ social embeddedness within congregations. Applying congregational research addresses an important gap in the study of emerging adult religiosity. Findings of each study are discussed, as are implications and suggestions for future research
Tracking emergent religious groups in the US and adherence over time.
No full textEmergent religious groups are an innovative but chronically understudied and misunderstood realm of contemporary religion. This may be due to notorious difficulties encountered when estimating the size of populations involved with emergent religious groups at any given time. To address this problem, two hypotheses were proposed based on the expectations of religious economies theory: 1. the population involved with any ERG remained within an .2-2.2% range of the total American population, and 2. this percentage does not change over time. Findings from three national surveys suggest support for .2-2.2% of the U.S. population involved with ERGs regardless of year, and tentative support for the religious economies explanation. ERGs are a viable case for quantitative sociologists of religion, which has hitherto been dominated by qualitative case study, although creativity and further research is needed to verify the findings
Religion, sexuality, and gender : an individual and organizational analysis.
No full textHomosexuality has been the object of much debate, research, and political struggle over the last 40 years. Since the Stonewall riots of 1969 the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender movement (LGBT) continues to grow and occupy a much larger portion of the social consciousness in the United States. Religion is commonly viewed as a "brake" slowing down the liberalization of attitudes. The influence of gender and especially traditional gender attitudes are also significant. While the effect of religion or gender on attitudes toward homosexuality and the inequality gays and lesbians experience is documented, little research investigates the intersection of religion, sexuality, and gender. Drawing on multiple data sets at the individual and organizational levels, the four analyses in this project demonstrate the influence of religion and gender on attitudes toward homosexuality and the full inclusion of gays and lesbians into American life. Specifically, this study considers 1) the relationship between gender ideology and attitudes toward homosexuality, 2) attribution theory and attitudes toward same-sex unions, 3) the determinants of congregational responses to gays and lesbians, and 4) the relationship between gender inequality and the inequality experienced by gays and lesbians within American congregations. The findings for each study are discussed, and implications and suggestions for future research are also considered
Tracking emergent religious groups in the US and adherence over time.
Get PDFEmergent religious groups are an innovative but chronically understudied and misunderstood realm of contemporary religion. This may be due to notorious difficulties encountered when estimating the size of populations involved with emergent religious groups at any given time. To address this problem, two hypotheses were proposed based on the expectations of religious economies theory: 1. the population involved with any ERG remained within an .2-2.2% range of the total American population, and 2. this percentage does not change over time. Findings from three national surveys suggest support for .2-2.2% of the U.S. population involved with ERGs regardless of year, and tentative support for the religious economies explanation. ERGs are a viable case for quantitative sociologists of religion, which has hitherto been dominated by qualitative case study, although creativity and further research is needed to verify the findings
Congregational growth, closure, identity, and diversity.
Get PDFDespite stories of secularization in America, congregations still possess power as one of America's most prolific social organizations. Their power can be seen by the fact that congregations receive the highest proportion of philanthropic donations of any social institution (Hoge, Zech, McNamara, and Donahue 1996), and are the greatest outlet of voluntarism in the United States (Putnam 2000). This dissertation explores four central issues pertaining to congregations: growth, closure, identity, and diversity. Heterogeneity by age is related to growth in American congregations, while homogeneity by belief is related to congregational growth in Evangelical congregations. Age liabilities of newness and oldness are associated with closure in congregations that have a free-church tradition. Beliefs stand out above denominational affiliation and self-identification in terms of identifying who is Evangelical. Finally, there is potential of racially diverse congregations to assist in the changing of attitudes and actions toward people of a different race
Ego-tribalism in religion, politics, and media : a changing landscape calls for a new theory of trust.
No full textScholarship on individual manifestations of social trust typically emphasize three theoretical frameworks: rational choice, psychological/epistemological capacity, or network distribution. In this dissertation, I argue that these approaches have limited explanatory power, and instead put forth a new theory of trust that harmonizes and improves on them. I submit ego-tribalism as a new model for understanding social trust, where egocentrism and tribal identities are often in tension. Several hypotheses are drawn from this framing and are tested in three separate studies. Using data from the 2017 Baylor Religion Survey, I analyze the impact of Internet usage, moral authority, and religiosity on generalized social trust. I find that moral individualism is negatively associated with social trust. Increasing religiosity is not significant, challenging previous research that suggested religiosity predicts an increase in generalized trust. Also, moderate religiosity amplifies the effects of a judgmental God-image on social trust relative to high religiosity. The theory of ego-tribal trust distribution illustrates how individual religiosity and moral authority relate to generalized trust as they depend on levels of self-interest vis-à-vis tribal bonding over certain beliefs and behaviors. A second study uses data from the 2021 Baylor Religion Survey to explore the effects of political identity, generalized trust, social media usage, and increased online political activism during COVID-19 on the belief a political party threatens the unity of the United States. An increase in social trust predicts a lower probability of perceived outgroup threat. Increased social media usage is not predictive but an increase in online activism predicts lower trust. Online activism amplifies the effect of political liberalism but not conservatism. This I suggest, is an effect of liberal ideological tribalism in concert with unilateral disclosure of personal sentiment. Data for the final study also come from the 2021 Baylor Religion Survey. I analyze the extent to which beliefs about mainstream media and the consumption of politically biased media predict distrust of the COVID-19 vaccine. Consumption of conservative media is associated with distrust in the vaccine. Believing media exaggerate the dangers of COVID-19 significantly attenuates the negative effect of education on distrust of the vaccine. Increasing age significantly attenuates the effect of conservative media. Older conservatives are exposed to the tribal narrative that predicts distrust in the COVID-19 vaccine, but self-interest to protect personal health overrides that influence. I conclude the dissertation with a summary of findings, a review of ego-tribalism, and avenues for future research
Gender and status in the religious congregation.
No full textEver since Max Weber distinguished differences in "social esteem" between categories of people, status has been a fundamental concept in the sociological analysis of inequality. Gender is a status system that creates a hierarchy between men and women, and men have historically held higher status. The goal of this dissertation is to explore how gendered status hierarchies affect religious congregations. As organizations guided by normative beliefs, congregations have the power to create and maintain status differences between men and women through their structure, culture, and rituals. Through three quantitative analyses using multilevel modeling with the United States Congregational Life Survey, I explore how gendered status hierarchies affect different levels of religious congregations: the head clergy, volunteer lay leadership, and subjective ritual experiences. In Chapter Two, I use role congruity theory to illustrate how gender impacts congregants' perceptions of their clergy, especially in light of their leadership style. Congregants view female clergy similarly than male clergy, except for when they breach gender norms and lead with a more masculine style. Chapter Three, addresses the relationship between the gender gap in congregational lay leadership and the organization's resources by using the micro-level expectation states theory at the meso-level. Women are more likely to be volunteer leaders when they are in resource-rich congregations. Chapter Four, extends interaction ritual chain theory to show that gender has a powerful influence on ritual outcomes. I demonstrate that men have lower levels of emotional expression in worship services and that the surrounding gender ratio within the ritual has the power to impact males' subjective ritual experiences. The findings within this dissertation ultimately show gender's power as a status system within religious congregations. These are deeply gendered organizations, and their leadership, structure, and rituals continue to be affected by status hierarchies between women and men. Yet, gender's power within religious congregations is not absolute. Dynamics within congregations, such as the clergy's leadership style or the organization's resources, can mitigate the gender system
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