Religion and Attitudes toward Childlessness in the United States

Attitudes toward childlessness have received little attention from social scientists even as childlessness as a family form has become more popular. One key predictor of childlessness attitudes is religious commitment, though few studies have examined this association in-depth. Using data from two recent, national datasets—the National Survey of Family Growth and the Survey of U.S. Catholics and Family Life—we assess the relationships between individuals’ religious characteristics and various attitudes about their own and others’ childlessness, as well as how these factors may vary across gender. We find strong associations between religious affiliation, religious attendance, and religious salience, and each of the outcomes such that religious commitment tends to be associated with more negative attitudes toward childlessness. Interactions across gender were rare and the direction of the interactions was mixed. Religion is a pivotal factor in perpetuating pronatalist attitudes in the United States among both men and women.

Decline, Revival, Change? Religious Adaptations among Muslim and Non-Muslim Immigrant Origin Youth in Norway

This article explores religious adaptation among immigrant-origin youth in Norway, using the first wave of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study in Norway (CILS-NOR). To capture different dimensions of religious change, we distinguish between 1) level of religiosity, measured by religious salience and religious practices, and 2) social forms of religious belief, measured as the level of rule orientation and theological exclusivism. We compare immigrant-origin youth in Norway with young people in their parents’ origin countries, using the World Value Survey. We then compare immigrant-origin youth who were born in Norway to those who were born abroad and according to their parents’ length of residence in Norway. As expected, immigrant-origin youth from outside Western Europe—and those originating in Muslim countries in particular—were more religious than native and western-origin youth and more rule oriented and exclusivist in their religious beliefs. However, our results suggest that a process of both religious decline and religious individualization is underway among immigrant origin youth in Norway, although this process appears to unfold slower for Muslims than for non-Muslims. The level and social forms of religiosity among immigrant-origin youth are partially linked to their integration in other fields, particularly inter-ethnic friendships. We argue that comparative studies on how national contexts of reception shape religious adaptations, as well as studies aiming to disentangle the complex relationship between religious adaptation and integration in other fields, are needed.

Legislating Islamophobia: The factors for the existence of anti-sharia laws in the United States

In 2010 a number of states began introducing a law that prohibited the application of sharia in U.S. courtrooms. Sharia, translated as the ‘clear path’, is essentially the law of Islam. These laws are an outgrowth of the angst and prejudice toward Muslim Americans known as Islamophobia. This study attempts to understand these laws, their origin and the population, legislative and political/cultural factors most closely related to their introduction and existence. This is a very salient topic given the targeting of Islam by some politicians most prominently in the 2016 presidential election. Their introduction and passage in some states have alienated the small, but growing population of Muslims. It was found in this study that religious salience, traditionalism and the size of the presence of anti-Muslim groups predicted the existence of an anti-sharia law, while Democratic dominance predicted no law. These results indicate that Islam is part of the ‘culture war’ in the United States.

Sites Unseen

This chapter argues that Catholics and evangelicals ultimately contribute to distinct constructions of ethnic space and of ethnic identity, in as much as ethnic space serves as a mechanism for ethnic identity construction. For Catholics, religion shapes the boundaries of ethnicity as a retrospective, locally anchored, communally embodied identity. For evangelicals, religion shapes the boundaries of ethnicity as a future looking, regionally dispersed, voluntarily selected identity. Catholicism, the author argues, tends to contribute to a more robust sense of ethnic continuity, while evangelicalism tends to contribute to a more robust sense of religious salience. The author argues that intergenerational transmission is a matter that both traditions continue to contend with as it has significant bearing on their ethnic futures. The chapter closes by reflecting on the adaptive ethnoreligious identities being forged by later generation Latinxs in light of the materials made available by earlier generations.

ALLEVIATING LONELINESS AT 100: IS RELIGION A SOLUTION?

Data from N = 154 centenarians residing in Oklahoma were assessed using the Duke University Religious Index (DUREL). Items assessing religious salience (α=.76) were employed to create a binary measure of high (N=56 or 36.4%; M= 29.77, SD=4.65) and low (N=49 or 31.8%; M=25.10, SD=6.58) religious salience (RS). A series of ANCOVA analyses were then conducted controlling for education, race, self-reported health, and self-care capacity relative to the binary outcome RS. Significant differences for both the corrected model and the pairwise comparisons using Bonferroni adjustment emerged in favor (p ≤.001) of the high RS group (M HI =29.60; M LO=25.29) for life satisfaction and social provisions (M HI =82.43; M LO=76.62). However, the RS group was also significantly higher (p =.004) in reported loneliness (M HI =34.56; M LO=31.63). Implications of the findings for reducing loneliness among centenarians reporting high religious engagement are further highlighted.

The impact of religious salience on purchase intentions: evidence from the UAE

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of religious salience on consumer purchase intentions in the multicultural environment of the UAE, more specifically on the willingness of a Muslim consumer to purchase a product labelled or packaged to include an Islamic appeal, i.e. an appeal with a heightened religious salience. While some attempts have been made in the literature to examine the impact of religious salience on purchase intentions, research amongst Muslim consumers remains under-explored. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a randomized survey experiment administered to 148 Emirati educated female nationals. The survey consisted of pairs of advertisements, where each advertisement promoted the same product and the same brand, varying on whether they included an Islamic appeal or not in the labelling, packaging or slogan. The respondents were asked about their attitude to the different versions of the advertisements, as well as their willingness to purchase the product. The authors used causal mediation analysis to explore the mechanisms through which causal effects on purchase intentions are determined. Findings This study shows that including an Islamic appeal, and therefore increasing the religious salience in product promotion, leads to higher purchase intentions amongst Muslim consumers. The authors also identified a number of additional moderating factors that influenced the consumer’s purchase intentions, such as product and/or brand awareness and the type of product being promoted, as well as the nature of the artefact that was included in the ad as the Islamic appeal. Finally, the causal mediation analysis suggests that Islamic appeals increases product attractiveness, which in turn leads to higher purchase intentions. Originality/value This paper investigates the effect of religious salience on consumer behaviour and their purchase intentions. This paper makes an empirical contribution to understanding consumer behaviour with particular relevance to retail hubs with a majority Muslim population.

Catholic Parish-based Youth Ministers: A Preliminary Study

Eleven youth ministers working in Catholic parishes in two large urban dioceses were interviewed. The paper examined the life journey of youth ministers and how they saw their role along with perceptions of challenges and how they could be better supported. Participants were motivated and expressed satisfaction with their jobs. They displayed high levels of religious salience as marked by their religious belief and practice and networking with faith-based communities. They manifested a strong counter-cultural message which is essential to authentic witness. As such, the participants in this study are a great gift to the Church and to its ministry. A preliminary typology of youth ministers was proposed, which springs from different life experiences, how they approach their work and what they see as their future. There was some difficulty in finding paid youth ministers working in parishes and this may point to one of the significant challenges facing them; that is, making the job sustainable within existing Catholic parish structures. While well-networked with sustaining faith communities, there is scope for support between youth ministers working in parishes. In addition, a more targeted professional development program which recognises the differing needs of youth ministers would be appropriate.

Keeping or Losing Faith? Comparing Religion across Majority and Minority Youth in Europe

In this chapter we explore how religious minority and majority youth are in England, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. We find that minority youth are on average more often affiliated to a religion than majority youth, and mostly affiliated as Christians. We also study religious salience, praying and service attendance. The share of minority and majority youth who expresses that religion is important in their lives is higher than the share of youth who engages in daily prayer or weekly service attendance. Specifically, Muslim youth stand out as the most religious on all accounts. Our further comparison of the religious salience of youth with that of their parents reveals that intergenerational religious change has a declining tendency, though also quite some stability exists, especially among Muslim immigrants. Together, these findings suggest overall low levels of religious salience and practice among majority youth, in contrast to minority youth—in particular Muslims—and a general pattern of intergenerational decline in the importance of religion.

Religiosity, Crime, and Drug Use Among Juvenile Offenders: A Test of Reciprocal Relationships Over Time

This article examines whether an individual’s religiosity has reciprocal relationships with crime and drug use among juvenile offenders. Structural equation modeling is applied to analyze 11-wave panel data from a study of juveniles adjudicated or found guilty of a serious offense in two states. Offenders’ religiosity is measured both objectively (participation in religious activities) and subjectively (religious salience, experiences, and efficacy). While holding constant an offender’s exposure time (the proportion of time on the street), previous levels of crime and drug use, and sociodemographic controls, this study found the relationship between religiosity and crime (i.e., nondrug offending) to be either bidirectional or unidirectional. The relationship between religiosity and drug use (binge drinking, marijuana use, and hard drug use) is, however, unidirectional over time. When unidirectional relationship is found, it is religiosity that decreases crime and drug use, not the other way around. Implications of findings are discussed.

Moral Communities and Sex: The Religious Influence on Young Adult Sexual Behavior and Regret

Research indicates that religiosity inhibits adolescent and young adult sexual behavior, but few studies examine how religious contexts may shape sexual behavior. When religious contexts are considered, studies rarely test multiple spheres of religious influence simultaneously. Moreover, little research examines how either individual religiosity or religious contexts shape emotional responses to sex. We analyze nationally representative, longitudinal data that allow for concurrent examination of multiple religious contexts and several measures of young adult sexual behaviors and sexual regret. The influence of religiosity on sexual behavior and regret varies within and across both the spheres and outcomes tested. Individual religious salience and close ties with parents are the most consistent deterrents to initiation of sexual intercourse and having numerous intercourse partners. Closeness to parents and participation in religious activities are associated with lower odds of sexual regret, but ties to adults in one’s religious congregation are associated with increased sexual regret.