Suchergebnisse

The importance of religion, and the role of individual differences -- The importance of democracy and economic development -- Shaping attitudes in Protestant nations : a comparison of the United States, Uganda, and South Africa -- Understanding views in Muslim countries : an analysis of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Turkey -- The relatively liberal views of people from majority Catholic countries : an examination of Spain, Italy, and Brazil -- Investigating public opinion in Asian nations : Buddhism, Confucianism, and the importance of family ties in East Asia -- Shaping attitudes in Taiwan : a case study (Ok, but not in my family) -- Conclusion : other religions, outliers, and the future -- Appendix A. Countries included in WVS analysis by 2015 homosexuality laws and the nation's dominant religion -- Appendix B. WVS data and hierarchical models -- Appendix C. Additional macro-level indicators -- Appendix D. Details on content analysis of newspaper articles

Public opinion about homosexuality varies substantially around the world. While residents in some nations have embraced gay rights as human rights, people in many other countries find homosexuality unacceptable. What creates such big differences in attitudes? This book shows that cross-national differences in opinion can be explained by the strength of democratic institutions, the level of economic development, and the religious context of the places where people live. Amy Adamczyk uses survey data from almost ninety societies, case studies of various countries, content analysis of newspaper articles, and in-depth interviews to examine how demographic and individual characteristics influence acceptance of homosexuality.

ObjectiveWhile much research has examined the link between personal religious beliefs and practices and delinquency, little research attention has been given to the influence of friends' religious beliefs for explaining teen delinquency. This study fills this gap in the literature by examining the role of individual and friends' religious beliefs and born‐again identity for shaping delinquency.MethodsTwo waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and measures taken from individuals and their friends are used to examine the influence of individual and friends' religiosity and born‐again identity for violent and property offending.ResultsFriends' private religiosity appears to strengthen the inverse relationship between individual private religiosity and stealing. Neither individual nor friends' religiosity nor born‐again identity has any effect on violent offending.ConclusionsWhereas friends' delinquency has a consistently positive association with respondent delinquency, friends' religiosity plays a supporting role, heightening the deterring influence of personal religiosity for stealing and shoplifting.

Relying on the approach by Maurice Halbwachs who argued that collective memory is based on contemporary interests and concerns, this article shows how Thanksgiving has changed over time in accordance with the ideas of the day. Aspects of the analysis support Barry Schwartz's theory that commemoration reflects the historical past. Similar to the pilgrims' celebration, many people commemorate Thanksgiving by, for example, feasting and praying. But in contrast to Schwartz's thought, this paper also shows that there are other elements of traditions that have minimal connection with the original event. Forms of commemoration like the Macy's Day Parade challenge the idea that commemoration and celebration contain some connection to the initial occasion. In general, the findings lend support to historical research and theories that implement social constructionist approaches.

When coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) became a major impediment to face-to-face college instruction in spring 2020, most teaching went online. Over the summer, colleges had to make difficult decisions about whether to return to in-person instruction. Although opening campuses could pose a major health risk, keeping instruction online could dissuade students from enrolling. Taking an ecological approach, the authors use mixed modeling techniques and data from 87 percent of two- and four-year public and four-year private U.S. colleges to assess the factors that shaped decisions about fall 2020 instructional modality. Most notably, the authors find that reopening decisions about whether to return to in-person instruction were unrelated to cumulative COVID-19 infection and mortality rates. Politics and budget concerns played the most important roles. Colleges that derived more of their revenue from tuition were more likely to return to classroom instruction, as were institutions in states and counties that supported Donald Trump for president in 2016.

AbstractThe Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) currently archives over 500 local, national, and international data files, and offers a wide range of research tools to build surveys, preview data online, develop customized maps and reports of United States church membership, and examine religion differences across nations and regions of the world. The ARDA also supports reference and teaching tools that draw on the rich data archive. This research article offers a brief introduction to the quantitative data available for exploration or download, and a few of the website features most useful for research and teaching. Supported by the Lilly Endowment, the John Templeton Foundation, the Pennsylvania State University, and the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion, all data downloads and online services are free of charge.

Over the last two decades researchers have begun to look at how personal religious beliefs and behaviors influence substance use, finding that more religious teens are less likely to drink, smoke, and use illegal drugs. This study builds on this previous research, combining it with work on religious contextual effects to develop a theoretical model that explains why friends' religion would influence teens' marijuana use, even if teens are not personally religious. Using two waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study examines whether individual and friends' religiosity (e.g., religious participation and importance) or born-again identity influence marijuana initiation. Individual and friends' born-again identity appear to independently influence marijuana initiation, which is not significantly mediated by the proportion of in-school friends who have tried marijuana. Findings offer support for the role of micro religious contexts for explaining illegal substance use.

Objective. This study illustrates the ways religiosity and denominational affiliation influence the probability that a young woman will have an abortion.Methods. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), measures of sexual behavior, out‐of‐wedlock pregnancy, and out‐of‐wedlock pregnancy resolution are regressed on religiosity and denominational affiliation.Results. Religiosity indirectly reduces the likelihood that a woman will have an abortion by reducing the probability that she will have an out‐of‐wedlock pregnancy. Among women who conceive out of wedlock, religiosity increases the likelihood of marriage before birth, and thereby reduces the probability of abortion. However, among women who conceive out of wedlock and do not marry before birth, religiosity is unrelated to the probability of having an abortion.Conclusions. Religiosity affects the probability that a woman will obtain an abortion more through its influence on choices about sex and marriage, and less through its influence on attitudes about abortion.

Abortion is one of the most politically divisive topics currently being discussed in the media. No study has yet attempted to make cross‐national comparisons assessing the nuances associated with various views on abortion in the English public press. Using an original hand‐coded sample of over 800 English‐language newspaper articles from 41 countries that mentioned abortion, we examine how country‐level influences and newspaper characteristics shape newspaper portrayals of abortion. Our three‐level hierarchical models find that democracy and the freedom it engenders increase the likelihood that newspapers discuss laws, policies, and government claimsmakers when abortion is mentioned. When abortion is legal, newspapers are less likely to mention social movements and protest activities, possibly because the issue may be more settled. We also provide previously untapped insight into the role that a country's religious culture and level of economic development play. Surprisingly, religion and economics have relatively little influence in shaping abortion discussions.

Over the last three decades, many countries across the world, including the United States, have experienced major increases in support for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) individuals and related issues. In partial relation to these changes, multiple studies have examined the factors shaping public opinion. In this review, we focus on four major areas of research on public opinion in this field of study. First, we assess the terms that scholars typically use when examining attitudes and highlight the areas of public opinion research that have received the most attention. Second, we focus on the data and measurement challenges related to examining attitudes in the United States and across many nations. Third, we consider how and why attitudes and related laws have changed over time and across nations. Finally, we discuss the major micro and macro empirical forces that influence and the theoretical explanations for why there are such differences in attitudes. We end by offering several suggestions for future research.

Social scientists have long been interested in how cultural and structural characteristics shape individuals' actions. We investigate this relationship by examining how macro- and micro-level religious effects shape individuals' reports of premarital and extramarital sex. We look at how identifying with one of the major world religions—Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, or Judaism—and living in a nation with a Muslim culture shape the likelihood of sex outside of marriage. Using hierarchical modeling techniques and cross-national data from the Demographic and Health Surveys, we find that ever married Hindus and Muslims are less likely to report having had premarital sex than are ever married Jews and Christians, and an earlier age at marriage does not appear to explain the relationship. Married Muslims are also less likely than affiliates of all other religions, except Buddhists, to report extramarital sex. The percentage Muslim within a nation decreases the odds of reports of premarital sex and this relationship is not explained by restrictions on women's mobility. These findings contribute to research on religion, culture, policy, and health, as well as our understanding of the macro-micro relationship.