Suchergebnisse

Religious preference at several points in the life cycle is examined with regard to its affect on socioeconomic achievement and with regard to how religious preference is influenced by education, occupation, and income. The importance of considering the several major denominations separately instead of as a single category is demonstrated. When this is done Jews, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians have above average socioeconomic achievements; Methodists and Catholics are near the mean; and Baptists are below the average. Controlling for social origins and early achievements greatly attenuates the differences, but does not remove them with regard to education and income.

This paper examines the relationship between the religious factor and adolescent marijuana use. Using panel data from a sample of 264 high school youth, several three‐wave, four‐variable models derived from social learning theory and social control theory are estimated. Each model specifies causal links between measures of religious attitude and predispositions (religious commitment and an act‐specific religious belief), involvement with marijuana‐using friends, and self‐reported marijuana use. The results provide evidence that the impact of religion is indirect through its influence on the variable Peer Associations. The findings also show the emergence of a direct effect of the act‐specific belief on behavior over time. This effect is interpreted to be more a function of within‐group attitude‐behavior similarity due to social selection than to socialization to peer group standards. These findings extend rather than refute previous research which fails to control for the effects of peer influences.