Social Sources of Community Solidarity in U.S. Congregations

Ferguson, Todd W.; Stroope, Samuel; Tom, Joshua C.; Andercheck, Brita; Martinez, Brandon C.

doi:10.1080/02732173.2017.1334606

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Second, we controlled for congregational attendance using an ordinal variable ranging from 0 to 8 to account for the important role congregations play in shaping beliefs and behaviors (Ferguson et al. 2017; Martinez and Tamburello 2018; Stroope and Baker 2014). The corresponding response categories for religious service attendance are: never, less than once a year, once or twice a year, several times a year, once a month, 2–3 times a month, about weekly, weekly, and several times a week.…”

Section: Methods and Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flowing Across with Demonic Hate: Belief in Supernatural Evil and Support for Stricter Immigration Policy

Martinez

Tom²,

Baker

2022

Scientific Study of Religion

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Prior research has found that different aspects of religion (such as service attendance and fundamentalism) have significant and varying effects on public attitudes about immigration. We identify an important but understudied aspect of how religion connects to immigration attitudes: beliefs about the reality of supernatural evil (e.g., Satan, hell, and demons). Using a national sample of Americans, we find that greater belief in supernatural evil is a strong and consistent predictor of more restrictive views of immigration, even after controlling for other dimensions of religiosity, sociodemographics, and political characteristics. Overall, beliefs about religious evil are the aspect of religion with the strongest connection to views of immigration. Consequently, consideration of religious evil is integral to understanding how religion influences public attitudes about immigration.

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Section: Methods and Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flowing Across with Demonic Hate: Belief in Supernatural Evil and Support for Stricter Immigration Policy

Martinez

Tom²,

Baker

2022

Scientific Study of Religion

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“…Following the coding of prior research, 1 = those who selected the first two responses indicating they have a strong sense of belonging that is either consistent with or growing from how they felt the previous year and 0 = all other responses (Dougherty and Whitehead ; Ferguson et al. ; Martinez and Dougherty ; Stroope ; Stroope and Baker )…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…I transformed this variable into a dichotomous measure since the provided responses do not provide an unambiguous ordinal scale. Following the coding of prior research, 1 = those who selected the first two responses indicating they have a strong sense of belonging that is either consistent with or growing from how they felt the previous year and 0 = all other responses (Dougherty and Whitehead 2011;Ferguson et al 2017;Martinez and Dougherty 2013;Stroope 2011;Stroope and Baker 2014). 3 The second dependent variable of belonging is more objective and measures whether or not the individual has close friends within the congregation.…”

Section: Dependent Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Integration of Racial and Ethnic Minorities into White Congregations

Martinez

2017

Sociological Inquiry

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Drawing from the homophily principle and organizational ecology theory, I follow previous literature and predict racial minorities will have lower levels of belonging and commitment when attending predominantly white congregations. Going beyond this literature, I incorporate contemporary racial stratification literature and propose integration into white congregations would vary by racial group as a result of the differing symbolic group positioning of minorities in America's racial hierarchy. Results from multilevel models using a national dataset generally support my hypotheses. The findings from this study reveal distinctions between minority racial groups within predominantly white congregations. Thus, the homophily principle and organizational ecology are not sufficient when studying race within congregations, as it is not enough to rely solely on the numeric representation of racial groups in congregations without taking into account the social positioning of these groups. These results, their implications, and potential directions for future studies are further discussed.

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“…Many individuals participate and remain in congregations in part for friendship and feelings of belonging and community (Ferguson et al 2017 ; Gallagher 2020 ; Sikkink and Emerson 2020 ; Stark and Finke 2000 ; Tsang 2015 ). Given the large size of megachurches, it may be harder for some people to make friends and feel a strong sense of belonging.…”

Section: Multiple Congregational Attendancementioning

confidence: 99%

Eating Your Cake and Having it Too: US Megachurches and Factors Associated with Attending Multiple Congregations

Corcoran

House-Niamke

Bird³

et al. 2022

Review of Religious Research

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Background It is typically assumed in the social scientific study of religion that individuals attend one congregation or none. As such, there is scarce research on individuals who attend more than one congregation yet doing so may affect congregational participation. Purpose This study theorizes factors affecting whether someone attends multiple congregations and how this might influence congregational volunteering and giving in the context of megachurches. It hypothesizes that parents, those who are single, those of lower socioeconomic status, those who are racially and ethnically minoritized, and those who are not socially embedded in a congregation will be more likely to attend a megachurch and other congregations. It also theorizes competing hypotheses regarding the association between attending multiple congregations and congregational volunteering and giving. Methods This study draws on survey data from 12 representative megachurches to test the proposed hypotheses using logistic and ordinal logistic regression models. Results Those who are single, those of lower socioeconomic status, those who are racially and ethnically minoritized, and those who are not socially embedded in the megachurch are more likely to attend multiple congregations simultaneously. Attending multiple congregations is negatively associated with congregational volunteering and giving. Conclusions and Implications The results demonstrate the need to reconceptualize congregational attendance to recognize that individuals may attend more than one congregation. Accordingly, future surveys should allow respondents to identify attending multiple congregations. The results also highlight how congregations may be negatively impacted by non-exclusive attendees who are less likely to volunteer and give money.

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Social Sources of Community Solidarity in U.S. Congregations

Cited by 7 publications

References 39 publications

Flowing Across with Demonic Hate: Belief in Supernatural Evil and Support for Stricter Immigration Policy

Flowing Across with Demonic Hate: Belief in Supernatural Evil and Support for Stricter Immigration Policy

The Integration of Racial and Ethnic Minorities into White Congregations

Eating Your Cake and Having it Too: US Megachurches and Factors Associated with Attending Multiple Congregations

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