Mortality Differentials and Religion in the U.S.: Religious Affiliation and Attendance

Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, I examine the relationship between adult mortality and religious affiliation. I test whether mortality differences associated with religious affiliation can be attributed to differences in socioeconomic status (years of education and household wealth), attendance at religious services, or health behaviors, particularly cigarette and alcohol consumption. A baseline report of attendance at religious services is used to avoid confounding effects of deteriorating health. Socioeconomic status explains some but not all of the mortality difference. While Catholics, Evangelical Protestants, and Black Protestants benefit from favorable attendance patterns, attendance (or lack of) at services explains much of the higher mortality of those with no religious preference. Health behaviors do not mediate the relationship between mortality and religion, except among Evangelical Protestants. Not only does religion matter, but studies examining the effect of "religiosity" need to consider differences by religious affiliation.     

Religious Commitment,Skepticism, and Struggle Among U.S. College Students: The Impact of Majority/Minority Religious Affiliation and Institutional Type

Using a longitudinal sample of over 14,000 undergraduate students, this study explores whether and how students’ religious transformations during the college years are associated with their religious affiliation, religious experiences, and the institutional characteristics of their college or university. Hierarchical linear modeling reveals that students from religious majority groups (i.e., mainline and evangelical Protestants) generally experience increased religious commitment and decreased religious skepticism as compared with students from religious minority groups. Interestingly, though, students from these majority groups also report greater levels of religious struggle compared to minority group students. Moreover, institutional religious affiliation and an inclusive campus religious climate often attenuate the relationship between students’ religious affiliation and their religious transformation. Environments at both the macro (campus) and micro (friendship groups) levels contribute critically to young adults’ religious commitment.     

Religious Affiliation,Religious Service Attendance,and Mortality

Very few studies have examined the effects of both religious affiliation and religiosity on mortality at the same time, and studies employing multiple dimensions of religiosity other than religious attendance are rare. Using the newly created General Social Survey-National Death Index data, our report contributes to the religion and mortality literature by examining religious affiliation and religiosity at the same time. Compared to Mainline Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and other religious groups have lower risk of death, but Black Protestants, Evangelical Protestants, and even those with no religious affiliation are not different from Mainline Protestants. While our study is consistent with previous findings that religious attendance leads to a reduction in mortality, we did not find other religious measures, such as strength of religious affiliation, frequency of praying, belief in an afterlife, and belief in God to be associated with mortality. We also find interaction effects between religious affiliation and attendance. The lowest mortality of Jews and other religious groups is more apparent for those with lower religious attendance. Thus, our result may emphasize the need for other research to focus on the effects of religious group and religious attendance on mortality at the same time.     

Religious Affiliation and Employment Bias in the Labor Market

Religious affiliation and employment bias is examined in Athens, Greece by implementing an experimental field study. Labor market outcomes (occupation access, entry wage, and wait time for call back) are assessed for three religious minorities (Pentecostal, evangelical, and Jehovah's Witnesses) compared to the religious majority (Greek Orthodox). Results indicate that religious minorities experience employment bias as measured by access to job interviews, entry wages, and wait time for call backs. Moreover, religious minorities face greater constraints on occupational access in more prestigious jobs compared to less prestigious jobs. Occupational access and entry wage bias is highest for religious minority women. In all cases, Jehovah's Witnesses face the greatest bias; female employers offered significantly lower entry wages to Jehovah's Witnesses than male employers.     

D.Z. Phillips,Recovering Religious Concepts: Closing Epistemic Divides

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion -     

HPV High Risk and Protective Behaviors: The Effects of Religious Affiliation

The majority of Americans identify themselves as belonging to some religious group. There is a mixed body of literature on whether or not religious affiliation has an influence on engaging in risky behaviors among young adults attending college. This study examined associations between religious affiliation, risky sexual practices, substance use, and family structure among a sample of predominantly white college females attending a southeastern university. Given the high risk of acquiring genital human papillomavirus infection as a result of high risk sexual practices, gaining a better understanding of how religious affiliation can be used to promote healthy sexual behaviors is warranted.     

Inequities in Under-Five Mortality in Nigeria: Differentials by Religious Affiliation of the Mother

Observations in Nigeria have indicated polio vaccination refusal related to religion that ultimately affected child morbidity and mortality. This study assessed the role of religion in under-five (0–59 months) mortality using a cross-sectional, nationally representative sample of 7,620 women aged 15–49 years from the 2003 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey and included 6,029 children. Results show that mother’s affiliation to Traditional indigenous religion is significantly associated with increased under-five mortality. Multivariable modelling demonstrated that this association is explained by differential use of maternal and child health services, specifically attendance to prenatal care. To reduce child health inequity, these results need to be incorporated in the formulation of child health policies geared towards achieving a high degree of attendance to prenatal care, irrespective of religious affiliation.     

美国宗教联合会代表团参访中国道教协会

7月21日,美国浸信会森林出教会国际部负责人、美中多宗教交流会总干事傅柏柢先生等一行4人,在国家宗教局外事司司长郭伟陪同下前来中国道教协会参观访问.     

论美国宗教事务管理模式及其对我国的启示

美国由于较早开始社会的近现代化,其宗教事务管理模式相对成型.借鉴美国宗教事务管理模式,确立宗教事务管理的基本哲学理念,诉诸法律,并不断在宗教管理的支持性政策与限制性政策上取得弹性平衡是我国宗教事务管理的策略选择.     

U.R.S.S. 1925: Politique et religion

The religious debates of the 1920's in the Soviet Union were marked by an agreement to disagree which no longer seems to exist.     

Church Attendance,Religious Activities,and the Life Satisfaction of Older Adults in Middletown,U.S.A.

ABSTRACT

The central focus of this study is to examine the patterns and relationships which may or may not exist between religious attendance and activity, sex, health, income, and age with regard to the sense of subjective well-being as expressed by older Middletowners. Based on a random sample of 400 persons, 60 years of age and older, a multiple regression analysis reveals that three variables account for the vast majority of variance in life satisfaction. Those variables are: SUBJECTIVE HEALTH STATUS, SATISFACTION WITH INCOME, and CHURCH ATTENDANCE. For those three variables R = .4780; R² = .2284. When all seven independent variables were included R = .4851; R² = .2351. In addition, further analysis was undertaken to examine the interrelationships between the seven independent variables.     

Environmental psychology in the U.S.S.R.

A preliminary version of this paper was presented at the 19th National Convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, Boston, November, 5, 1987.     

When experiments go wrong: the U.S. perspective

The view that once prevailed in the U.S.--that research is no more dangerous than the activities of daily life--no longer holds in light of recent experience. Within the past few years, a number of subjects (including normal volunteers) have been seriously injured or killed in research conducted at prestigious institutions. Plainly, when we are talking about research going wrong, we're talking about something very important. We have seen that experiments can go wrong in several ways. Subjects can be injured--physically, mentally, or by having other interests violated. Investigators can commit fraud in data collection or can abuse subjects. And review mechanisms--such as IRBs--don't always work. The two major issues when research goes wrong in any of these ways are, first: What will be done for subjects who have suffered an injury or other wrong? and second: How will future problems be prevented? The present system in the U.S. is better at the second task than the first one. Part of the difficulty in addressing the first lies in knowing what "caused" an apparent injury. Moreover, since until recently the problem of research-related injuries was thought to be a small one, there was considerable resistance to setting up a non-fault compensation system, for fear that it would lead to payment in many cases where such compensation was not deserved. Now, with a further nudge from the NBAC there is renewed interest in developing a formal system to compensate for research injuries. Finally, I have tried to show that our system of local oversight is only partially effective in improving the design of experiments and the consent process in light of "unexpected (adverse) results." As many observers, including the federal General Accounting Office (GAO), have reported, the requirement for "continuing review" of approved research projects is the weak point in the IRB system. The probable solution would be to more strictly apply the requirement that investigators report back any adverse results, de-emphasizing the "screen" introduced by the present language about "unexpected" findings. Yet, despite its weaknesses, there are good aspects to the local basis of our oversight system, and when problems become severe enough, OHRP is likely to evaluate a system and insist on local improvements. Thus, while the U.S. system is far from perfect in responding when research goes wrong, our experience may be useful to others in crafting a system appropriate to their own circumstances. One of the major tasks will be to adequately define what triggers oversight--that is, who reports what to whom and when? The setting of this trigger needs to balance appropriate incentives and penalties. Any system, including our own, will, in my opinion, work much better once an accreditation process is in place, which will offer much more current and detailed information on how each IRB is functioning and what steps are needed to help avoid "experiments going wrong."