Belonging Without Belonging: Utilizing Evangelical Self-Identification to Analyze Political Attitudes and Preferences

Abstract

Research typically defines evangelical belonging as affiliation with an evangelical denomination, but this approach excludes many self-identified evangelicals, even though previous studies of religious groups find that self-identification is a powerful predictor of political preferences. Using data from the National Survey of Religion and Politics, we investigate the usefulness of self-identification for classifying evangelicals. The effects of three types of evangelical belonging (religious tradition-only, self-identification-only, and a combination of religious tradition and self-identification) on respondents' political attitudes, party identification, and vote choice suggest that religious tradition is a good predictor of political attitudes while self-identification is a good predictor of party identification. We conclude that self-identification and tradition are both important to understanding evangelicalism and politics in America.

Distinctiveness Reconsidered: Religiosity, Structural Location, and Understandings of Racial Inequality

“…). For example, Lewis and De Bernardo find individuals with evangelical beliefs among numerous nonevangelical denominations, arguing that “evangelicals are becoming more mobile, increasingly moving across denominational traditions” (:124). Further, Schwadel () finds that the association between church attendance and the strength of religious affiliation is “more loosely connected” in younger cohorts, revealing the increasing importance of using multiple measures of religiosity in statistical models.…”

“…Second, we include multiple measures of religious belief, belonging, and behavior. Prior research in this area typically measures evangelical Protestantism by denominational affiliation only; however, scholars are becoming increasingly aware that individual religiosity is multifaceted and impossible to measure with only one indicator (e.g., Lewis and De Bernardo ; Olson and Warber ; Woodberry et al. ).…”

The Young and the Restless? The Liberalization of Young Evangelicals

“…One of the challenges of such research is the methodological problem of trying to define an evangelical. Previous studies of evangelicals operationalize evangelical in different ways, often producing different pictures of the evangelical movement and its participants (Carpenter 1997; Green et al 1996:240–66; Hunter 1983; Lewis and de Bernardo 2010; Marsden 1991; Smith et al 1998; Woodberry and Smith 1998). In a more recent article, Hackett and Lindsay (2008) address this issue, summarizing many of the attendant problems researchers have faced, arguing for the importance of accurately operationalizing this religious group.…”

Partisan Media and Discussion as Enhancers of the Belief Gap

“…That is, media reinforcement of existing norms, opinions, beliefs, and values can be observed across many aspects of one's identity (Harwood, 1999). These norms need not be discretely distributed across identity components but often blend and overlap, as is the case with many Americans who express both conservative Christian beliefs and right-wing political affiliations (Lewis & de Barnardo, 2010). For example, D. E. Campbell, Green, and Layman (2011) found that a candidate's evangelical identity leads to greater support from Republicans and lesser support from Democrats, regardless of the candidate's own party affiliation.…”