Sacred
Religion, group threat and sacred values
Hammad Sheikh et al.
Judgment and Decision Making, March 2012, Pages 110-118
Abstract:
Sacred or protected values have important influences on decision making, particularly in the context of intergroup disputes. Thus far, we know little about the process of a value becoming sacred or why one person may be more likely than another to hold a sacred value. We present evidence that participation in religious ritual and perceived threat to the group lead people to be more likely to consider preferences as protected or sacred values. Specifically, three studies carried out with Americans and Palestinians show: (a) that the more people participate in religious ritual the more likely they are to report a preference to be a sacred value (Studies 1-3); (b) that people claim more sacred values when they are reminded of religious ritual (Study 2); and (c) that the effect of religious ritual on the likelihood of holding a sacred value is amplified by the perception of high threat to the in-group (Study 3). We discuss implications of these findings for understanding intergroup conflicts, and suggest avenues for future research into the emergence and spread of sacred values.
----------------------
The End of Secularization in Europe?: A Socio-Demographic Perspective
Eric Kaufmann, Anne Goujon & Vegard Skirbekk
Sociology of Religion, Spring 2012, Pages 69-91
Abstract:
Much of the current debate over secularization in Europe focuses only on the direction of religious change and pays exclusive attention to social causes. Scholars have been less attentive to shifts in the rate of religious decline and to the role of demography - notably fertility and immigration. This article addresses both phenomena. It uses data from the European Values Surveys and European Social Survey for the period 1981-2008 to establish basic trends in religious attendance and belief across the 10 countries that have been consistently surveyed. These show that religious decline is mainly occurring in Catholic European countries and has effectively ceased among post-1945 birth cohorts in six Northwestern European societies where secularization began early. It also provides a cohort-component projection of religious affiliation for two European countries using fertility, migration, switching, and age and sex-structure parameters derived from census and immigration data. These suggest that Western Europe may be more religious at the end of our century than at its beginning.
----------------------
Jonathan Jong, Jamin Halberstadt & Matthias Bluemke
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Although fear of death features prominently in many historical and contemporary theories as a major motivational factor in religious belief, the empirical evidence available is ambivalent, and limited, we argue, by imprecise measures of belief and insufficient attention to the distinction between implicit and explicit aspects of cognition. The present research used both explicit (questionnaire) and implicit (single-target implicit association test; property verification) measurement techniques to examine how thoughts of death influence, specifically, belief in religious supernatural agents. When primed with death, participants explicitly defended their own religious worldview, such that self-described Christians were more confident that supernatural religious entities exist, while non-religious participants were more confident that they do not. However, when belief was measured implicitly, death priming increased all participants' beliefs in religious supernatural entities, regardless of their prior religious commitments. The results are interpreted in terms of a dual-process model of religious cognition, which can be used to resolve conflicting prior data, as well as to help explain the perplexing durability of religious belief.
----------------------
The Mediating Role of Monitoring in the Association of Religion with Self-Control
Evan Carter, Michael McCullough & Charles Carver
Social Psychological and Personality Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Religiosity is related to a variety of positive outcomes and the nature of this relationship has long been a topic of inquiry. Recently, it was proposed that an important piece of this puzzle may be the propensity for religious beliefs to promote self-control, a trait that is linked to a range of benefits. How religion translates into self-control, however, remains unclear. We examined the extent to which religiosity's relationship with self-control is mediated by self-monitoring, perceived monitoring by God, and perceived monitoring by other people. Results revealed that more religious people tended to monitor their standing regarding their goals (self-monitoring) to a greater degree, which in turn related to more self-control. Also, religious people tended to believe that a higher power was watching them, which related to greater self-monitoring, which in turn was related to more self-control.
----------------------
Religion, Religiosity, and the Moral Divide in Canadian Politics
Adrian Ang & John Petrocik
Politics and Religion, April 2012, Pages 103-132
Abstract:
Social group conflict along regional, ethnic, linguistic, and religious cleavages is deeply embedded in the Canadian historical experience. Contemporary analyses, however, have deprecated the role of religion and religiosity in shaping Canadians' political attitudes. This analysis demonstrates that religion and religiosity are significant correlates of Canadian attitudes on moral issues, paralleling the pattern observed in the United States. It demonstrates that the religious cleavage has been a salient feature of Canadian politics for some time and considers whether the contemporary moral divide could serve as a portent of cultural-religious conflict in Canada if a "political entrepreneur" articulated an issue agenda linked to these religion-based differences.
----------------------
Abraham Flipse
Church History, March 2012, Pages 104-147
Abstract:
The Netherlands is, besides the United States, one of the few countries where debates about creationism have been raging for decades. Strict creationism has become deeply rooted in traditional Reformed (Calvinist) circles, which is all the more remarkable as it stemmed from a very different culture and theological tradition. This essay analyses the historical implantation of this foreign element in Dutch soil by investigating the long-term interaction between American creationism and Dutch "neo-Calvinism," a movement emerging in the late nineteenth century, which attempted to bring classical Calvinism into rapport with modern times. The heated debates about evolution in the interbellum period as well as in the sixties - periods characterized by a cultural reorientation of the Dutch Calvinists - turn out to have played a crucial role. In the interbellum period, leading Dutch theologians - fiercely challenged by Calvinist scientists - imported US "flood geology" in an attempt to stem the process of modernisation in the Calvinist subculture. In the sixties many Calvinists abandoned their resistance to evolutionary theory, but creationism continued to play a prominent role as the neo-Calvinist tradition was upheld by an orthodox minority, who (re-)embraced the reviving "Genesis Flood" creationism. The appropriation of American creationism was eased by the earlier Calvinist-creationist connection, but also by "inventing" a Calvinist-creationist tradition, suggesting continuity with the ideas of the founding fathers of neo-Calvinism. This article aims to contribute to a better understanding of what Ronald L. Numbers has recently called the "globalization" of the "science-and-religion dialogue."
----------------------
Babak Rahimi
International Political Science Review, March 2012, Pages 193-208
Abstract:
This article compares the democratic thought and practice of two influential Shi'i Muslim theologians in Iran and Iraq. It argues that a new conception of Shi'i traditional authority has been developed by senior clerics Hussain Ali Montazeri and Ali Sistani offering a new model of clerical authority closely connected to the democratic values of popular sovereignty and accountability: ‘democratic Usulism.' Such a new paradigm envisions a form of religious legitimization that is led by elected rulers who are ultimately ‘guided' by the sacred law of Islamic legal norms, while being held accountable to the people. The paradigm operates either as a counter-discourse to theocratic authoritarianism, currently prevalent in Iran, or as a democratic theology of citizenship and electoral participation, as in the case of Iraq. In broad terms, the two cases represent a major trend in Shi'i political theology that can be viewed as part of the global upsurge of public religions, some of which serve to counter authoritarianism (both secular and theocratic) and promote democratic rule.
----------------------
Religion and religiosity: Protective or harmful factors for sexual minority youth?
Joseph Longo, Eugene Walls & Hope Wisneski
Mental Health, Religion & Culture, forthcoming
Abstract:
Sexual minority youth are disproportionately impacted by a number of psychosocial risks including a greater likelihood of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) when compared to heterosexual counterparts. Emerging research seeks to identify the risk and resilience factors that contribute to the mental health of this stigmatised population. Considering that most Americans grow up with at least some religious teachings and that most major world religions have historically condemned same sex sexuality, the current study examines the association between religious tradition, religiosity, and NSSI behaviour. Results indicate that religion plays both a protective and harmful role for sexual minority youth. Those identifying as Christians with high religious guidance had the greatest risk, seculars had a comparatively moderate risk, and Christians with low religious guidance had the least risk. Implications for clinical practice and future areas of research are discussed.
----------------------
Religion and the Sense of Control among U.S. Adults
Christopher Ellison & Amy Burdette
Sociology of Religion, Spring 2012, Pages 1-22
Abstract:
Despite at least a century of theoretical debate, the relationship between religion and the sense of control has rarely been investigated empirically. This study develops a series of theoretical arguments linking multiple dimensions of religious involvement with the sense of control. Relevant hypotheses are then tested using data from the 1996 NORC General Social Survey. On the one hand, several aspects of religious involvement (attendance at services, belief in an afterlife, conservative Protestant affiliation) are positively associated with the sense of control. In addition, afterlife belief and frequency of prayer moderate the links between health problems and the sense of control. However, consistent with the claims of prominent critics, certain religious beliefs (e.g., human sin, biblical literalism) are inversely related to the sense of control.
----------------------
Single Mothers' Religious Participation and Early Childhood Behavior
Richard Petts
Journal of Marriage and Family, April 2012, Pages 251-268
Abstract:
Using data on 1,134 single mothers from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, this study examined trajectories of religious participation among single mothers and whether these trajectories were associated with early childhood behavior. The results suggested that single mothers experienced diverse patterns of religious participation throughout their child's early life; some mothers maintained a consistent pattern of religious participation (or nonparticipation), and other mothers increased their participation. The results also suggested that religious participation was associated with greater involvement with children, reduced parenting stress, and a lower likelihood of engaging in corporal punishment. Young children raised by mothers who frequently attended religious services were less likely to display problem behaviors, and this relationship was partially mediated by increased child involvement, lower stress, and less frequent corporal punishment. Overall, religious participation may provide resources for single mothers that encourage them to engage in parenting practices that promote positive child development.
----------------------
Richard Patterson & Joseph Price
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, March 2012, Pages 79-89
Abstract:
Club good models developed by economists suggest that the club provides a benefit to members by fostering the provision of semi-public goods. In the case of religion, churches create enforcement mechanisms to reduce free riding. Consequently, the psychic costs of deviant activity should be higher for individuals who belong to religious groups with strong social norms. Data from the General Social Survey are used to examine whether the cost of using pornography is greater for the more religiously involved. We measure the cost of using pornography as the happiness gap or the gap between the average happiness reported by individuals who do and individuals who do not report using pornography. The happiness gap is larger for individuals who regularly attend church and who belong to religious groups with strong attitudes against pornography.
----------------------
Calling and conflict: The sanctification of work in working mothers
Elizabeth Lewis Hall et al.
Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, February 2012, Pages 71-83
Abstract:
This study applies the construct of sanctification to working mothers' experiences of work. Women (N = 200) who had completed a master's, doctoral, or professional degree and were employed with at least one child under the age of 18 years residing in the home, completed an online survey investigating their sanctification of work, intrinsic religiosity, religious commitment, positive and negative affect, interrole conflict, and satisfaction with work. The results indicated that greater levels of sanctification of work show incremental validity over intrinsic religiosity and religious commitment in predicting higher positive affect, lower interrole conflict, and higher satisfaction with work. Implications of these results for religious working mothers are explored.
----------------------
Troy Gibson & Christopher Hare
Politics and Religion, April 2012, Pages 53-82
Abstract:
This article examines the effect of religious affiliation and depth of religious commitment on the political behavior of Catholic Latinos, evangelical Latinos, and secular/unaffiliated Latinos. The culture war theory connects theological conservatism with political conservatism, but because prior research shows that minority groups often have alternate experiences with churches that place religious doctrine and teachings in varying political contexts, it is not clear that Latinos fit the culture war profile. We find that religious tradition and church attendance have an additive but differing impact on ideological and partisan identification as well as various policy preferences on social issues where culture war religious divisions are usually found (abortion, gay marriage, death penalty, and support for Israel) and other non-social issues (universal healthcare and taxing and spending). We find that religiosity has the greatest effect on the political behavior of evangelical Latinos, followed by secular/unaffiliated Latinos and committed Latino Catholics, and that religious tradition is largely consistent in moving evangelical Latinos to the political right and secular/unaffiliated Latinos to the political left.
----------------------
Elif Izberk-Bilgin
Journal of Consumer Research, forthcoming
Abstract:
Religion and ideology are prominent forces shaping consumption. While consumer researchers have studied both topics considerably, examinations of religious ideology remain scant. Notably lacking is research on how religion, myths, and ideology intertwine in the marketplace, informing attitudes toward brands. This ethnography investigates how the religious ideology of Islamism informs brand meanings among low-income Turkish consumers and identifies three discourses that construct global brands as infidels. Informants use the infidel parable to characterize market societies as devoid of social equality, morality, and justice. This critique culminates in a consumer jihad against global brands. Through the consumer jihad, informants accommodate and protest the social crises posed by modernity and globalization as they seek to recreate the Golden Age of Islam. Exploring the relationships among economic means, cultural capital, and religious ideology, helps this study bridge related domains of research on religiosity, ideology, and brand meanings that are often investigated separately.
----------------------
Islam and Arabic as the Rhetoric of Insurgency: The Case of the Caucasus Emirate
Alexander Knysh
Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, April 2012, Pages 315-337
Abstract:
Interpretations and uses of Islam are legion today. Some call for improving or preserving the morals and dignity of a certain local Muslim community or of the global Muslim community (umma) in its entirety. Others are eager to demonstrate that Islam is fully compatible and, in fact, conducive to modernity, democratic governance, and technological advancement of humankind. Still others posit Islam as a powerful means of liberation from occupation and domination/exploitation of Muslims around the world by non-Muslim powers. This article addresses one concrete example of how some Muslim insurgents of the Northern Caucasus use Islam to unite the diverse and occasionally mutually hostile ethnic groups of the area in the face of Russian domination with the goal of establishing an independent Islamic state based on the Muslim Divine Law (Sharia). After providing a general overview of the history and ideology of this Islamic/Islamist movement, the article focuses on the ways in which its leadership uses the Internet to disseminate its understanding of Islam and to rally young Muslims round the idea of the trans-ethnic Sharia state that they promise to institute after defeating and expelling "the Russian occupiers" and their local backers. Special attention will be given to the role of Islamic concepts and taxonomies as well as the Arabic language in framing the political grammar of the insurgency movement known as "The Caucasus Emirate."
----------------------
The Need to Belong Can Motivate Belief in God
Jochen Gebauer & Gregory Maio
Journal of Personality, April 2012, Pages 465-501
Abstract:
The need to belong can motivate belief in God. In Study 1, 40 undergraduates read bogus astrophysics articles "proving" God's existence or not offering proof. Participants in the proof-for-God condition reported higher belief in God (compared to control) when they chronically imagined God as accepting but lower belief in God when they imagined God as rejecting. Additionally, in Study 2 (72 undergraduates), these effects did not occur when participants' belongingness need was satisfied by priming close others. Study 3 manipulated 79 Internet participants' image of God. Chronic believers in the God-is-rejecting condition reported lower religious behavioral intentions than chronic believers in the God-is-accepting condition, and this effect was mediated by lower desires for closeness with God. In Study 4 (106 Internet participants), chronic believers with an accepting image of God reported that their belief in God is motivated by belongingness needs.
----------------------
Muslim Reformists, Female Citizenship, and the Public Accommodation of Islam in Liberal Democracy
Mohammad Fadel
Politics and Religion, April 2012, Pages 2-35
Abstract:
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), in a trilogy of cases involving Muslim claimants, has granted state parties to the European Convention on Human Rights a wide margin of appreciation with respect to the regulation of public manifestations of Islam. The ECHR has justified its decisions in these cases on the grounds that Islamic symbols, such as the ḥijāb, or Muslim commitments to the shari‘a - Islamic law - are inconsistent with the democratic order of Europe. This article raises the question of what kinds of commitments to gender equality and democratic decision-making are sufficient for a democratic order, and whether modernist Islamic teachings manifest a satisfactory normative commitment in this regard. It uses the arguments of two modern Muslim reformist scholars - Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī and ‘Abd al-Ḥalīm Abū Shuqqa - as evidence to argue that if the relevant degree of commitment to gender equality is understood from the perspective of political rather than comprehensive liberalism, doctrines such as those elaborated by these two religious scholars evidence sufficient commitment to the value of political equality between men and women. This makes less plausible the ECHR's arguments justifying a different treatment of Muslims on account of alleged Islamic commitments to gender hierarchy. It also argues that in light of Muslim modernist conceptions of the shari‘a, there is no normative justification to conclude that faithfulness to the shari‘a entails a categorical rejection of democracy as the ECHR suggested.
----------------------
Anger, Exit, and Assertion: Do People See Protest Toward God as Morally Acceptable?
Julie Exline, Kalman Kaplan & Joshua Grubbs
Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, forthcoming
Abstract:
Do people believe that it is morally acceptable to protest against God? This question was examined in Internet studies with two samples: undergraduates (n = 358) and a broad-based adult sample (n = 471), both from the United States. Analyses were limited to participants who reported some belief in God. As predicted, seeing protest toward God as acceptable was associated with lower religiosity and more negative views of God (e.g., harsh, distant, cruel). Participants also made moral distinctions between various forms of protest toward God: Assertive responses (questioning and complaint) were rated more acceptable than anger and associated negative feelings (frustration, disappointment). Negative feelings, in turn, were rated more acceptable than exit responses (rebellion, holding on to anger; rejecting God; questioning God's authority; terminating the relationship). To the extent that participants saw protest toward God as acceptable, they reported more anger toward God. On the surface, zero-order correlations suggested that positive emotions and attitudes regarding God were associated with seeing anger toward God as wrong; however, this association disappeared when exit and assertion were taken into account via regression. These regressions revealed that positive emotions and attitudes toward God were strongly linked with seeing exit as wrong but also (modestly but consistently) with seeing assertion as acceptable. These findings suggest a parallel between perceived relationships with God and human relationships: When such bonds are close and resilient, they often allow room for some questioning and complaint, provided that there is a clear commitment to preserve (i.e., not exit) the relationship.