Religion and the Sense of Control in Cross-National Perspective: The Importance of Religious Context

Jung, Jong Hyun

doi:10.1177/2329496516686615

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…The religious hypocrisy scale was developed from the works of Moberg (1987), Yousaf and Gobet (2013) and Wollschleger and Beach (2013). The religious social control scale was developed from the works of Jung (2017) and Wollschleger and Beach (2011). The religious guilt scale was adapted from the work of Exline et al (2000).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religious compensatory consumption in the Islamic context: the mediating roles of religious social control and religious guilt

Syahrivar

Hermawan

Gyulavári

et al. 2021

APJML

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PurposeIn general, Muslims consider Islamic consumption to be a religious obligation. Previous research, however, suggests that various socio-psychological factors may influence Islamic consumption. Failure to comprehend the true motivations for purchasing Islamic products may lead to marketing myopia. This research investigates the less explored motivational factors of religious compensatory consumption, namely religious hypocrisy, religious social control and religious guilt.Design/methodology/approachThis research relied on an online questionnaire. Purposive sampling yielded a total of 238 Muslim respondents. The authors employed PLS-SEM analysis with the ADANCO software to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results reveal the following: (1) Higher religious hypocrisy leads to higher religious social control. (2) Higher religious hypocrisy leads to higher religious guilt. (3) Higher religious social control leads to higher religious guilt. (4) Higher religious hypocrisy leads to higher religious compensatory consumption. (5) Higher religious social control leads to higher religious compensatory consumption. (6) Religious social control partially mediates the relationship between religious hypocrisy and religious compensatory consumption. (7) Higher religious guilt leads to higher religious compensatory consumption. (8) Religious guilt partially mediates the relationship between religious hypocrisy and religious compensatory consumption.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, religious compensatory consumption in this research is limited to Muslim consumers. Future research may investigate compensatory consumption in different contexts, such as Judaism and Christianity, which have some common religious tenets. Second, compensatory consumption is a complex concept. The authors’ religious compensatory consumption scale only incorporated a few aspects of compensatory consumption. Future studies may retest the authors’ measurement scale for reliability. Lastly, the samples were dominated by the younger generation of Muslims (e.g. generation Z). Future studies may investigate older Muslim generations.Practical implicationsFirst, this research illustrates how religiosity, guilt and social control may contribute to Islamic compensatory consumption. Islamic business practitioners and retailers targeting Muslim consumers can benefit from this research by knowing that Islamic consumption may be driven by socio-psychological factors, such as religious hypocrisy and guilt. As a result, businesses targeting Muslim consumers can develop marketing strategies that incorporate these religious elements while also addressing their socio-psychological issues in order to promote Islamic products. Second, Islamic business practitioners and retailers may consider the social environments in which Muslims are raised. The authors’ findings show that religious social control has direct and indirect effects on Muslims' preferences for Islamic products as a form of compensatory strategy. Islamic business practitioners may design marketing programs that revolve around Muslim families and their Islamic values. It is in line with the previous studies that suggest the connections between religions, local cultures and buying behaviours (Ng et al., 2020; Batra et al., 2021). In some ways, Islamic products can be promoted to improve the well-being and cohesion of family members and Muslim society in general. In this research, the authors argue that businesses' failures to understand the socio-psychological motives of Islamic consumption may lead to marketing myopia.Social implicationsAs previously stated, religion (i.e. Islam) may be a source of well-being and a stable relationship among Muslims. Nevertheless, it may also become a source of negative emotions, such as guilt, because of one's inability to fulfil religious values, ideals or standards. According to the authors’ findings, Islamic products can be used to compensate for a perceived lack of religiosity. At the same time, these products may improve Muslims' well-being. The creations of products and services that revolve around Islamic values are expected to improve Muslims' economic conditions and strengthen their faith and love toward Islam in the globalized world. Moreover, Muslims, both as majority and minority groups, face increasing social pressures. On one hand there is the (in-group) pressure to uphold Islamic values and on the other hand there is the (out-group) pressure to preserve the local values and cultures. Indeed, living in the globalized world may require certain compromises. This research calls for various institutions and policymakers to work out solutions that enable all religious groups to work and live in harmony.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to study religious compensatory consumption quantitatively. This research operationalized variables previously discussed using a qualitative approach, namely religious hypocrisy, social control, guilt and compensatory consumption. The authors designed and adapted their measurement scales to fit this context, paving the way for future research in this field. Second, this research provides new empirical evidence by examining the relationships among less explored variables. For instance, this research has proven that several aspects of religiosity (e.g. hypocrisy, social control and guilt) may influence compensatory consumption in the Islamic context. This research also reveals the mediation roles of religious social control and religious guilt that were less explored in the previous studies. To the best of their knowledge, previous studies had not addressed social control as a predictor of compensatory consumption. Therefore, the theoretical model presented in this research and the empirical findings extend the theory of compensatory consumption. Third, Muslims are underrepresented in the compensatory consumption research; therefore, this research fills the population gap. Finally, this research focuses on Islamic compensatory behaviour as the future direction of Islamic marketing. Previous Islamic marketing research had not addressed the sensitive motives of Islamic consumption, which have now been highlighted in this research.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religious compensatory consumption in the Islamic context: the mediating roles of religious social control and religious guilt

Syahrivar

Hermawan

Gyulavári

et al. 2021

APJML

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“…Firstly, the literature is loaded with agnosticism. It has shown that effects of religiosity on SOC are varying (i.e., sometimes positive; other times negative or non-existent) from one set of empirical measures of religiosity to another or from one study population to another (Ellison and Burdette 2012;Jung 2019;Pargament 2002;Schieman 2008;Schieman et al 2005;Pascoe et al 2016;Speed and Fowler 2017;Clements 2014). Based on these inconsistencies, the current literature suggests that the sociological imagination of actors' SOC along with their submission to sociality, especially to deity as its religious kind, is doubtful.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Meanwhile, a methodological fix on study populations rather than a conceptual revisit to religiosity has recently been made by a study that uses a cross-national dataset to specify a global model that includes as many study populations as possible (Jung 2019). By identifying a macro-national factor that conditions the effects of religiosity on SOC among different study populations, Jung (2019) presents a substantive theoretical gain, compared to the heretofore unwitting and unorganized reports of agnosticism.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religiosity and Individual Agency: Denominational Affiliation, Religious Action, and Sense of Control (SOC) in Life

Shim

2021

Religions

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By reporting findings from Wave 6 of the World Values Survey, this paper presents a renewed understanding of the relationship between religiosity and individual agency that is defined as sense of control (SOC) in life. In doing so, it proposes two conceptual articulations of religiosity. First, it articulates religiosity to be composed of categorical (i.e., denominational affiliation) and substantive (i.e., religious action) aspects. Second, it articulates substantive religious action to be multivocal, involving individual–affective, individual–practical, and collective–practical action. The paper finds that categorical denominational affiliation has varying effects on SOC, whereas substantive religious action mediates these effects in such a way that it consistently boosts SOC. A positive association between denominational affiliation (vs. non-affiliation) and SOC becomes smaller when religious action is accounted for. A negative association becomes greater when religious action is accounted for. In sum, the paper argues for the positive mediating effect of religious action on the varying relationship between denominational affiliation and SOC.

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“…Sense of control, which has been the focus of social psychologically oriented studies, represents the general beliefs that individuals master and control and that shape various aspects of their lives and reflect the learned generalized expectation that outcomes are contingent on their own choices and actions (Jung, 2019;Ross & Mirowsky, 2013;Schieman et al, 2005). Individuals with a high sense of control report being effective agents in their own lives (Mirowsky & Ross, 2003).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Religiosity and Physical Health of Middle–Old Aged African Americans: The Linking Role of Self-Control

Wickrama

Ralston

2022

J Aging Health

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Objective: This study examined a psychological process (i.e., sense of control) that links religiosity to self-reported physical health in older African Americans. Methods: Two waves of data from 231 middle–old aged African Americans (AAs) were used to test two specific hypotheses: (a) religiosity influences changes in sense of control middle–old aged AAs, and (b) sense of control influences changes in global physical health in middle–old aged AAs. The analysis used two modeling approaches: (a) an autoregressive cross-lagged modeland (b) a parallel growth/change model. Results: The results of both types of models showed that religiosity positively influenced changes in sense of control and that sense of control positively influenced changes in physical health in middle–old aged AAs over time. Discussion: These findings provide evidence that sense of control links religiosity to physical health in older African Americans. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

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Religion and the Sense of Control in Cross-National Perspective: The Importance of Religious Context

Cited by 9 publications

References 58 publications

Religious compensatory consumption in the Islamic context: the mediating roles of religious social control and religious guilt

Religious compensatory consumption in the Islamic context: the mediating roles of religious social control and religious guilt

Religiosity and Individual Agency: Denominational Affiliation, Religious Action, and Sense of Control (SOC) in Life

Religiosity and Physical Health of Middle–Old Aged African Americans: The Linking Role of Self-Control

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