The Effects of Education on Americans’ Religious Practices, Beliefs, and Affiliations

I challenge the scholarly contention that increases in education uniformly lead to declines in religious participation, belief, and affiliation. I argue that education influences strategies of action, and these strategies of action are relevant to some religious beliefs and activities but not others...

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. VerfasserIn: Schwadel, Philip (Verfasst von)
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
Verfügbarkeit prüfen: HBZ Gateway
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Veröffentlicht: 2011
In: Review of religious research
Jahr: 2011, Band: 53, Heft: 2, Seiten: 161-182
weitere Schlagwörter:B Religious Tradition
B Education
B Culture
B Social Class
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Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:I challenge the scholarly contention that increases in education uniformly lead to declines in religious participation, belief, and affiliation. I argue that education influences strategies of action, and these strategies of action are relevant to some religious beliefs and activities but not others. Analysis of survey data shows that (1) education negatively affects exclusivist religious viewpoints and biblical literalism but not belief in God or the afterlife; (2) education positively affects religious participation, devotional activities, and emphasizing the importance of religion in daily life; (3) education positively affects switching religious affiliations, particularly to a mainline Protestant denomination, but not disaffiliation; (4) education is positively associated with questioning the role of religion in secular society but not with support for curbing the public opinions of religious leaders; and (5) the effects of education on religious beliefs and participation vary across religious traditions. Education does influence Americans’ religious beliefs and activities, but the effects of education on religion are complex.
ISSN:2211-4866
Enthält:Enthalten in: Review of religious research
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s13644-011-0007-4