How Religious Stratification Impacts Social Status Instructor: Benjamin Olson Cite this lesson This lesson will define two basic forms of religious stratification and explain how such. First, in the exposurereinforcement hypothesis, I propose that individuals with higher levels of religious involvement are more likely to profess beliefs in divine involvement and control. Usually, if individuals are rankedhigh on one of these three dimensions of status, they are rankedhigh in the others. Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. In some respects, my findings are inconsistent with central tenets of deprivation theory, which holds that the socioeconomically disadvantaged tend to use religion to cope with the adversities of their lives. (1947). Religion is a range of social-cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, transcendental, and spiritual elements although there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely . I propose that both independently shape beliefs in divine involvement and control and, more importantly, that the effects of one depend on levels of the other. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. When the same profile is plotted across levels of praying and reading texts, similar patterns are observed. Although I tend to agree with Welch's (1981) assertion that the sociological perspective identifies beliefs as following behavior, the logic about the direction of causality is more convincing in some instances than others. For this reason, I decided to report all analyses with the SES index. variables and religious attitudes was analyzed, the report here will center only on social class and religiosity. The combination of social and economic status can reveal a group or individual's unequal access to resources, privilege, power, and control in a society. Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation - Pew Research Center Social scientists have sought to capture this belief conceptually with ideas like God as a causal agent (Ritzema and Young 1983), religious coping (Pargament 1997), and God-mediated control (Krause 2005, 2007). Religious socialism - Wikipedia Learn about social stratification. The Work, Stress, and Health Survey (WSH) derives data from telephone interviews with 1,800 adults in the 50 United States from February through August of 2005. All individuals in the WSH survey are currently working for pay. More specifically, frequent engagement in religious activities offers individuals opportunities to discover, modify, and reaffirm the central tenets of their faith (Davidson and Knudsen 1977; Gaede 1976; Welch 1981), which likely includes the image of God as one who is personally involved in the lives of humans on a daily basis (Froese and Bader 2007; Krause 2002). These beliefs often include the conviction that God is a conscious, omnipotent being who has explicit expectations and desires for each human being (Black 1999; Stark and Finke 2000). Religion strengthens social stability in at least two ways. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Association for the Sociology of Religion. Iceland was one of the last places in Europe to accept Christianity. Each factor is independently related to religious knowledge. How Religious Stratification Impacts Social Status | Study.com Again, it is useful to put these patterns in real-world terms. These include demographic factors, such as age and education, as well as religious affiliation. His contention about the link between religious activity and ideation is consistent with the observation that performative repetition yields similar levels of beliefs about the divine irrespective of SES. For the present analyses, I deleted cases with missing values on focal measures which yielded a sample of 1,558 cases. mile Durkheim distinguished between sacred beliefs and profane beliefs and wrote about the role religion played in social life. It is also commonly regarded as consisting of the way people deal with ultimate concerns about their lives and their fate after death. Americans who are 65 or older answer 1.3 additional questions correctly, on average, compared with the national mean, while adults under 30 score 1.8 questions lower than the national average. Thus, the exposurereinforcement hypothesis predicts fewer SES-based differences in beliefs among individuals who exhibit more religious involvement. Specifically, the size of the gender difference is reduced from .345 (p < .001) in model 1 to .110 (p < .05). But which of these traits are strongly connected with greater knowledge, and which are related only tangentially, if at all? Taken together, these are typically referred to as religious involvement (Froese and Bader 2007). To adjust for gender, I used dummy-codes for men (0) and women (1). The final sample was based on: (1) telephone numbers for residential households; (2) households agreeing to answer screening questions; (3) successfully screened households with one or more employed adults; and (4) eligible households with a sub-sampled adult who agreed to participate in the interview. To illustrate a few of these patterns, I have plotted the SESdivine control association across different levels of praying (figure2) and subjective religiosity (figure3). The results of the survey suggest that there are many traits that are linked with levels of religious knowledge. I extend this idea to include religious involvement more generally. 1973). Those who regularly do things to learn about other religions (that are not their own) also score higher. Collectively, these variables explain 40 percent of the total variation in household income, so they provide a substantially better estimate than simply substituting the mean income for missing. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica Online, socialism is a "social and economic doctrine that calls for public rather than private ownership or control of property and natural resources. Frontiers | The Coming-Out Process in Family, Social, and Religious Regression of the Belief in Divine Control on SES, Religious Involvement, SES Religious, Note: Unstandardized regression coefficients are shown with standard errors in parentheses. All BRS-based analyses adjust for a dummy-code of missing income (coded 1) versus not (coded 0). 3. Moreover, the social inequality-religion dynamic remains relevant in contemporary American society (Smith and Faris 2005), particularly in the recent rise of what is known as the prosperity gospel (Hunt 1998; Luo 2006). Collectively, these ideas concur with Berger's (1967) claim that religious ideation is grounded in religious activity (p. 40). List-assisted RDD increases the probability of residential numbers while minimizing the biases often associated with non-traditional RDD techniques. Social status - New World Encyclopedia Prior research has drawn attention to education's role in understanding variations in the nature and functions of religious precepts and practices. Note: Unstandardized regression coefficients are shown with standard errors in parentheses. A familiar refrain about religion is that it provides the faithful with knowledge, meaning, control, and security. For example, among those who attend religious services weekly, the predicted level of divine involvement is 4.40 for the high school/$10,000$20,000 income group compared with 4.34 for the graduate degree/$100,000$150,000 income group. Using data from two 2005 national surveys of American adults, I address three questions: (1) Is SES associated with beliefs about divine involvement and divine control? Likewise, Van Roy et al. In contrast, others argue that religious involvement is more likely to influence the nature and content of religious beliefs (Davidson and Knudsen 1977; Welch 1981). This chapter attempts to answer this question, based on a technique known as multiple regression analysis. Status may be ascribedthat is, assigned to individuals at birth without reference to any innate abilitiesor achieved, requiring special qualities and gained through competition and individual effort. Feelings toward religious groups. The Measure of American Religion: Toward Improving the State of the Art, Sampling Methods for Random Digit Dialing, Journal of the American Statistical Association, Sin and Self Functioning, Part 1: Grace, Guilt, and Self Consciousness, Deadly Doctrine: Health, illness, and Christian God-talk. I also used dummy-codes to contrast whites with African-Americans and other race groups in all regression analyses. 17.1 Religion as a Social Institution - Sociology - Open Textbook Library GACE Behavioral Science: Race, Ethnicity & Religion, Psychological Research & Experimental Design, All Teacher Certification Test Prep Courses, GACE Behavioral Science: Introduction to Psychology, GACE Behavioral Science: Major Psychological Theories, GACE Behavioral Science: Models & Approaches, GACE Behavioral Science: Psychological Research Methods, GACE Behavioral Science: Biological Bases of Behavior, GACE Behavioral Science: Biological Influences on Behavior, GACE Behavioral Science: Prenatal & Infant Development, GACE Behavioral Science: Language & Cognitive Development, GACE Behavioral Science: Childhood & Adolescent Development, GACE Behavioral Science: Personality Development & Theories, GACE Behavioral Science: Development in Adulthood, GACE Behavioral Science: Atypical Development, GACE Behavioral Science: Sensation & Perception, GACE Behavioral Science: Information Processing, GACE Behavioral Science: Learning Differences, GACE Behavioral Science: Intelligence & Achievement, GACE Behavioral Science: Social Behaviors, GACE Behavioral Science: Motivation & Emotion, GACE Behavioral Science: Psychological Disorders, GACE Behavioral Science: Psychological Treatments, GACE Behavioral Science: Introduction to Anthropology, GACE Behavioral Science: History & Theories of Anthropology, GACE Behavioral Science: Research Methods in Anthropology, GACE Behavioral Science: Social Stratification, GACE Behavioral Science: Domestication of Plants & Animals, GACE Behavioral Science: Family & Kinship, GACE Behavioral Science: Political Organization, GACE Behavioral Science: Economic Systems, GACE Behavioral Science: Language & Communication, GACE Behavioral Science: Introduction to Sociology, GACE Behavioral Science: Sociology Research Methods, GACE Behavioral Science: Demography & Settlement Patterns, GACE Behavioral Science: Social Processes, GACE Behavioral Science: Conformity & Deviance, GACE Behavioral Science: Social Groups & Organizations, GACE Behavioral Science: Social Institutions, GACE Behavioral Science: Contemporary Social Issues, Social Stratification: Definition, Theories & Examples, Race and Ethnicity Definitions: Social Minority vs. Social Majority, Prejudice, Discrimination & Stereotypes: Definitions & Examples, Interactions Between Social Majorities and Minorities, Ethnic Competition, Division & Domination, How Religious Stratification Impacts Social Status, GACE Behavioral Science: Gender, Aging, Power & Social Inequality, FTCE School Psychologist PK-12 (036) Prep, ILTS Business, Marketing, and Computer Education (216) Prep, Political Science 101: Intro to Political Science, Sociology for Teachers: Professional Development, Life Span Developmental Psychology: Homework Help Resource, UExcel Political Science: Study Guide & Test Prep, Introduction to Political Science: Certificate Program, SAT Subject Test Mathematics Level 2: Practice and Study Guide, NY Regents Exam - Geometry: Tutoring Solution, NY Regents Exam - Integrated Algebra: Tutoring Solution, Civil Harassment Restraining Orders: Definition & Rules, Executive Order 8802: Definition & Civil Rights, What is Interventionism in Politics? Ultimately, it may be more accurate to view the dually constitutive relationship between beliefs and actions as reflexive; that is, they are self-reinforcing and, in the sense that Berger (1967) has described them, each contributes to the reproduction of the other.6. To the extent that employment status is associated with the focal measures of interest, this represents a potential weakness of the study. Analysis by the Dimensions of Religiosity. For example, this analysis shows whether religious service attendance is related to religious knowledge, independent of religious affiliation and other demographic characteristics. Finally, it should be underscored here that the WSH data are comprised of working adults. Although the size of the SES coefficient diminishes slightly, the negative association between SES and belief in divine involvement remains significant net of religious involvement. In the WSH survey, 5 percent have less than high school, 28 percent have a high school graduate or GED, 18 percent have some college but no degree, 16 percent have specialized training or an associate's degree, 21 percent are college graduates, and 13 percent have a graduate degree. In analytic terms, these notions imply two general patterns: (1) individuals with high SES will be less likely to profess beliefs in divine involvement and control and (2) even when they share similar levels of religious involvement as low SES groups, those with high SES should exhibit overall lower levels of belief in divine involvement and control. And those who are currently married get slightly more questions right than those who are not. 398 lessons Following standard practice with these types of dependent variables (see Mirowsky 1999), all analyses use ordinary least squares (OLS) regression techniques. The three most basic resources related to status arewealth, power, and prestige. The negative association between SES and belief in divine control remains statistically significant net of religious involvement. These ideas imply that even when low SES individuals exhibit lower levels of religious involvement they will often retain a higher level of cognitive religiosity. By extension, it is plausible that low SES individuals will maintain high levels of belief in divine control and involvement apart from other aspects of the religious role. Model 1 of table2 indicates that individuals with high SES report a significantly lower level of belief in divine involvement compared with their low SES peers. Religion not only serves many functions, but variation in religion is also predictive of many aspects of social and cultural life, including type of property, craft specialization, political hierarchy, and kin-based communities (McNett 1973, 245). This deserves more attention because it considers individual- and national-level experiences with social standing and their relevance to the nature and form of religiosity. The SES-based secularization of belief processes described above imply that SES reduces supernatural-mythological orthodoxy regardless of involvement. Yet, surprisingly little is known about the content of those beliefs and the ways those beliefs are differentially distributed across social strata. In addition, the distinctions among Protestants are not clear in the WSH data. Updated: 05/23/2022. In addition to religious affiliation and demographics, researchers included five measures of religious education in a model: how often respondents spend time learning about their own religion, how often they spend time learning about other religions, whether they have taken a world religions class, what type of school they attended between kindergarten and 12th grade (religious private school or nonreligious public or private school), and how many years they attended Sunday school or similar religious education (if any). In table3, I repeat these same models using data from the WSH survey with the belief in divine control as the dependent variable; I also substitute subjective religiosity for the frequency of reading religious texts in model 5. Holding other factors constant, people who have more religiously diverse social networks also tend to answer more religious knowledge questions correctly. About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. In addition, one item is included that assesses the number of children under 18 residing in the household. Recent research blends these distinctions by including beliefs and practices on both sides of the causal equation (Froese and Bader 2007) and by documenting that the frequency of attendance and Biblical literalism are associated positively with the frequency of praying (Baker 2008). Then the analysis adds into the model, one at a time, several other possible factors associated with religious knowledge, such as religious service attendance, whether the respondent has ever taken a class about world religions, or whether they personally know members of several different religious groups. Thus, as observed for each of the forms of religious involvement, the association between SES and belief in divine involvement is also contingent upon beliefs about the Bible.5, The Association Between SES and the Belief in Divine Involvement across Categories of Biblical Literalism (2005 Baylor Religion Survey). CNN . One item in the BRS asks: Outside of attending religious services, about how often do you read the Bible, Koran, Torah, or other sacred book? Response choices are: never (1), less than once a year (2), once or twice a year (3), several times a year (4), once a month (5), 23 times a month (6), about weekly (7), weekly (8), and several times a week (9). First, among those who never attend religious services, the predicted score on the divine involvement index is 4.15 for individuals with a high school degree and household income in the $10,000$20,000 range; in contrast, the predicted divine involvement score is 3.44 for individuals with a graduate degree and income in the $100,000$150,000 range. (2) How are different dimensions of religious involvement associated with those beliefs? Even after education, race and other factors are considered, it is still the case that atheists, Jews, agnostics and evangelical Protestants perform better than other religious groups on this survey. Individuals in disadvantaged socioeconomic conditions are purportedly more likely to construct a bond with the divine to compensate for their plight and acquire otherwise-unattainable rewards (Glock and Stark 1965; Stark 1972). I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. As others have argued, the belief in God's engagement in and influence over events and outcomes is a central component of these processes (Froese and Bader 2007). As shown in model 1 of table3, individuals with high SES tend to report the lowest levels of belief in divine control. The content of this study does not reflect the views of the John M. Templeton Foundation. This does not necessarily mean that building social connections with people from many religions directly leads to increased religious knowledge. The question becomes: Which types of individuals profess particular beliefs about God's involvement and influence in everyday life? Using the ACS data, I weighted analyses to achieve conformance with the U.S. population in terms of sex, age, race, marital status, and occupation. By comparison, having a high school education or less is linked with 2.9 fewer correct answers, on average, than the national average. (2007) for a comprehensive overview of the survey content, data collection and sampling design, the weighting procedures, and its comparison to the 2004 General Social Survey. Social status is the level of social value a person is considered to possess. For him, religion was just an extension of working-class (proletariat) economic suffering. Moreover, low SES groups tend to derive greater psychological benefits from religiosity (Ellison 1991; Krause 1995; Pollner 1989). These ideas have their origins in a sociological tradition that describes the secularization of beliefs, especially processes that involve the replacement of the mystical and supernatural elements of traditional Christianity with a demythologized, ethical rather than theological religion (Glock and Stark 1965: 116; also see Berger 1967; Herberg 1960). An alternative view is that SES differences in beliefs remain irrespective of religious involvement. 116117). In this paper, therefore, I focus on the extent that individuals believe in a personal God who is involved and influential in people's liveswith a special emphasis on the distribution of these beliefs across SES. Items are averaged to create the belief in divine involvement index ( = .84). By contrast, those who make less frequent efforts to learn about their religion tend to earn below-average scores. This leads to another limitation of the present research: The inability to determine the meaning of beliefs about God for the faithful. The alternative view of exposurereinforcement garners more support: The negative association between SES and the belief in divine involvement and control is null or weakly negative among highly participatory groups. This idea is rooted partly in the view that individuals with low SES tend to experience different outcomes associated with religious involvement compared with their higher status peers (Pollner 1989). Here, causal order is straightforward: Beliefs about God's involvement and control flow from the socialization that occurs after one is exposed to the messages of the Bible. Individuals who sustain a belief in divine control perceive that God has a determinative influence on the good and bad outcomes in their lives, that God has decided what their life shall be, and that their fate evolves according to God's will or plan for them (Schieman et al. Religious stratification involves the division of a religious society into varying degrees of power and privilege. This lesson will define two basic forms of religious stratification and explain how such social organizations impact social status. Likewise, theoretical views about deprivationcompensation are potentially relevant (Wilson 1982). Common phrases such as It is all part of God's plan and It is God's will invoke God as a personally involved and causally relevant force in everyday life. If the individual believes this, then he or she should also believe in God's influence in everyday lifeespecially if the text conveys that message. In contrast, the negative SESdivine involvement association is attenuated among individuals who report more frequent attendance, praying, and reading religious texts. Consistent with this view, substantial evidence confirms that low SES individuals are more likely to seek God's will through prayer (Albrecht and Heaton 1984), and tend to report higher levels of divine interaction (Pollner 1989), feeling connected with God (Krause 2002), religious meaning and coping (Krause 2003, 1995), God-mediated control (Krause 2005, 2007), and the sense of divine control (Schieman et al.
