Religion as Reassurance? Testing the Insecurity Theory in 26 European Countries

Abstract

In this article, we extend insecurity theory by examining the influence of various kinds of insecurities on religiosity. Religiosity is operationalized in terms of a public dimension (church attendance) and a private dimension (subjective religiosity). Using data from four rounds of the European Social Survey (ESS, 2002-2008) on 26 European countries, we find strong support for the main hypothesis of insecurity theory that higher levels of insecurity are associated with increasing religiosity. Furthermore, it appears that all kinds of insecurities play a role. Specifically, we find, among others, that religiosity is higher among people who have an insecure job position, whose parents were unemployed, whose parents had a lower status job, who have experienced a war in their own country, who have lost their partner, and who reside in a country with lower social welfare spending and a higher unemployment rate. On a more general level, it is concluded that both (i) economic and existential; (ii) past and present; and (iii) individual and contextual insecurities are important in explaining (cross-national) variation in religiosity.

Exploring the stress-buffering effects of religiousness in relation to social and economic change: Evidence from Poland.

“…This conclusion would be in line with the centerpiece of insecurity theory originally proposed by Norris and Inglehart (2004) that individuals turn to religion when confronted with life's myriad insecurities and uncertainties, be they economic or existential, and individual or contextual in nature, because religion offers them emotional benefits in dealing with these stressors (Immerzeel & van Tubergen, 2011).…”

Economic Hardship and Well-Being: Examining the Relative Role of Individual Resources and Welfare State Effort in Resilience Against Economic Hardship

“…2 Firstly, we propose that social networks moderate the effect of economic hardship on well-being because social ties are made up of material but foremost immaterial resources that can be mobilized in times of need (Reeskens and van Oorschot 2014). Second, religion has shown to provide an encompassing framework and existential security for those facing economic hardship (Immerzeel and van Tubergen 2013). Third, we argue that confidence in politics also cushions the effect of economic hardship on wellbeing (van den Bos et al 1997;Thibaut and Walker 1975), as it fosters the belief that the government can tackle poverty.…”

“…Pious Europeans might benefit from interactions with like-minded churchgoers through the support, companionship and a sense of belonging that reside in general social ties; studies in particular show the ''supercharging'' effect of a religious common interest with friends (Lim and Putnam 2010), which increases well-being more than general friends. This private tie to God could also help improve well-being, since religious devoutness offers ''a comprehensive framework for the interpretation of world events'' which positively affects well-being (Lim and Putnam 2010;Emmons et al 1998;Immerzeel and van Tubergen 2013). Religious people have a stronger external locus of control, making them more likely to believe that their deprivation will be alleviated by an external source.…”

“…At the same time, social connections, such as a resourceful partner, help unemployed people get a job (Barbieri et al 2000), and social ties may prevent deprivation (Reeskens and van Oorschot 2014). Furthermore, deprived people on average have lower confidence in politics, and recent evidence suggests that they are more likely to turn to religion (Immerzeel and van Tubergen 2013).…”

Homonegativity among first and second generation migrants in Europe: The interplay of time trends, origin, destination and religion

“…Including dummy variables of the dominant religiosity at the national level, however, often groups countries which have similar levels of human development: from a global perspective, European countries are quite similar in the security they offer to their inhabitants, which could explain why there is no effect of contextual religiosity, while levels of insecurity are higher in Middle Eastern and North African countries, which are predominantly Muslim nations. Moreover, these levels of insecurity are linked to levels of religiosity as well, and national human development does succeed in explaining parts of the global variance in religiosity (Immerzeel and Van Tubergen 2013;Norris and Inglehart 2004; Van der Bracht, Van de Putte and Van de Velde 2014). For migrants this means that the impact of the origin country needs to be taken into account and that the impact of the religious culture of the origin country needs to be assessed vis-à-vis the impact of levels of human development.…”