Liturgical Rites of Passage for the Later Years

ABSTRACT

Rites of passage help redefine self-understanding and community behavior as individuals move through transition events into successive life stages. Traditional religious rites, such as baptism, confirmation, matrimony and the funeral, function as rites of passage within faith communities. Congregations need to develop similar rites to mark individuals' passage into newer life stages such as the empty nest, retirement, and final infirmity.     

Infant Baptism as a Family Rite of Passage

Anthropological definitions of rites of passage and family system theory are employed to make the case that infant baptism is itself a rite of passage, not merely for the infant being baptized and its parents, but for its whole extended family. The pregnancy, birth, and fourth trimester following birth are analyzed as the significant context for the rite of baptism, a context whose broad psychophysical, psychosocial, and psychospiritual dimensions affect and are affected by the rite of baptism. It is argued that pastoral preparation for a particular baptism and the aftercare that follows it need to be far more extensive than is common pastoral practice.     

In the Triune Name: Some Aspects of Baptismal Practice in Early Reformed Churches

Abstract

Within the wider Reformation in the sixteenth century, liturgical development of the early Reformed tradition saw a major departure from the rites of the medieval Catholic church including those for baptism. Part of this shift was determined by the spatial setting for baptism as well as by differences in the form of water container used for the rite. This article explores some of the baptismal practices that developed in early Reformed churches in light of such factors, and in relation to the understanding of the notion of adiaphora. After a brief reflection on the variety of ritual usage, the study examines the setting for baptism at the heart of the worshipping community along with the three types of water container used at the critical moment of baptism: the font, the ewer, and the basin. It concludes by noting that such diversity is characteristic of the multi-stranded Reformed tradition.     

Affective and cognitive religiosity: Influences on consumer reactance and self‐control

Self‐control is regularly studied in the marketing literature in relation to spending and food consumption; however, little research has assessed trait characteristics that influence consumers' self‐control. Although prior research in other fields has shown a generally positive relationship between religiosity and self‐control, such research has often used poor measures of religiosity and has inadequately examined marketplace outcomes or factors underlying consumers' self‐controlled responses. Thus, the studies herein build on self‐regulation theory to address and extend from these limitations by examining the influence of religiosity, as a multidimensional construct (particularly affective and cognitive religiosity), on self‐control and resulting influences on marketplace behaviors. Findings reveal that priming affectively (cognitively) religious consumers leads to greater (lower) consumer self‐control with a religious message prime (Study 1) and religious writing task (Study 2). Additionally, findings show that psychological reactance is at the root of these responses (Study 3). Implications build on self‐regulation theory and the strength model of self‐control to show the importance of religiosity (particularly affective and cognitive religiosity), interactions with religious primes, and psychological reactance in understanding consumers' self‐control.     

Baptism in a Secular Age

In the Western world, the cultural conditions for interpreting and practicing baptism have changed radically in recent decades. An increasing level of religious plurality is one cultural trend that the theology of baptism must take seriously. One option for responding to this challenge is to interpret baptism as a rite of drastic communal transition whereby one enters into the church and leaves the world—with all its plurality—behind. Another option is to view baptism as a rite that, by bringing us into the church's fellowship with God in Christ, draws us into communion with all living creatures and calls upon us to engage in openness toward others.     

The Positives and Negatives of Higher Education: How the Religious Context in Adolescence Moderates the Effects of Education on Changes in Religiosity

Although longitudinal research suggests that declines in religiosity associated with higher education vary across religious traditions, it tells us little about variation in the effects of higher education on changes in religiosity more broadly. Higher education may promote increases in religiosity for some, particularly with many Americans now being raised in relatively secular homes. This research note uses multilevel growth curve models and four waves of longitudinal data to examine how the religious context in adolescence moderates the effects of higher education on changes in emerging adult religiosity, regardless of the direction of change. Religious tradition and parent religious service attendance assess the religious context in adolescence, and several religiosity scales and measures of religious behaviors assess dimensions of religiosity. Results show that higher education is particularly likely to lead to religious decline for mainline Protestants and those with religiously active parents, and to increases in religiosity for the religiously unaffiliated and those with parents who infrequently attend religious services. These findings demonstrate how the religious context in adolescence conditions the influence of education, thereby highlighting the variable nature of the influence of higher education on changes in religiosity.     

You don't have to go to church to be a good Christian: the implicit religion of the cathedral carol service congregation

The notion that you don't have to go to church to be a good Christian is accepted as an indicator of the form of implicit religiosity espoused by those who (in Bailey's analysis) say that they “believe in Christianity.” The present paper builds on the findings of a recently published survey of rural Anglican churchgoers celebrating harvest which suggested that de-institutionalised implicit religion may be superseding commitment to conventional explicit religious attendance. The responses of 1081 people who attended Christmas carol services in two English cathedrals in 2009 and 2010 are analysed. The findings of the previous paper that implicit religiosity is more prevalent among younger people and among those who attend church less frequently are replicated. Evidence is also found that women are more inclined to this view than men and that those who have a loose historical connection through baptism are more likely to endorse it than those with either no historical connections or stronger ones. Suggestions are made for further research.     

The Religiosity of Immigrants in Europe: A Cross‐National Study

This study examines cross‐national differences in the religiosity of immigrants in Europe utilizing three different measures of religiosity: religious attendance, praying, and subjective religiosity. Hypotheses are formulated by drawing upon a variety of theories—scientific worldview, insecurity, religious markets, and social integration. The hypotheses are tested using European Social Survey data (2002–2008) from more than 10,000 first‐generation immigrants living in 27 receiving countries. Multilevel models show that, on the individual level, religiosity is higher among immigrants who are unemployed, less educated, and who have recently arrived in the host country. On the contextual level, the religiosity of natives positively affects immigrant religiosity. The models explain about 60 percent of the cross‐national differences in religious attendance and praying of immigrants and about 20 percent of the cross‐national differences in subjective religiosity.     

Religiosity and Financial Crises in the United States

The farm crisis in the United States in the 1980s had profound effects on rural, agricultural regions of the country, but almost no impact on urban and suburban areas. At the same time, the 2007–2008 housing crisis impacted almost all metropolitan areas, but was much more deeply felt in certain states, such as California, Arizona, Nevada, and Florida. I use a difference‐in‐differences methodology and find that religiosity as measured by religious attendance, prayer frequency, and religious intensity increased significantly in areas impacted by the farm crisis for those who worked in agriculture, and by the housing crisis for those who worked in housing‐related industries. Chen describes increased religiosity in Indonesia following the 1998 financial crisis, and this article demonstrates a similar response to severe financial distress in the United States. This increase is not due to a lower opportunity cost of time, as those who are currently employed have higher levels of attendance than those who are not. I hypothesize that the increased religiosity results from religious institutions’ ability to provide public goods, both financial and emotional, in the form of community support.     

Parental Divorce,Parental Religious Characteristics,and Religious Outcomes in Adulthood

Parental divorce has been linked to religious outcomes in adulthood. Previous research, however, has not adequately accounted for parental religious characteristics, which may render the association spurious and/or moderate the relationship. Many studies also do not consider subsequent family context, namely, whether one's custodial parent remarries. Using pooled data from three waves of the General Social Survey, we examine the nature of the relationships among parental divorce, subsequent family structure, and religiosity in adulthood. Growing up in a single‐parent family—but not a stepparent family—is positively associated with religious disaffiliation and religious switching and negatively associated with regular religious service attendance. Accounting for parental religious characteristics, however, explains sizable proportions of these relationships. In fact, after accounting for parental religious affiliation and service attendance, growing up with a single parent does not have a significant effect on religious service attendance. Parental religiosity also moderates the relationship between growing up with a single parent and religious service attendance: being raised in a single‐parent home does have a negative effect on religious service attendance among adults who had two religiously involved parents. There is modest evidence of this moderating relationship for other religious outcomes. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Religion and Drinking in the Retirement Community

ABSTRACT

The effect of religiosity on drinking patterns of retirement community residents is examined. Based on a systematic random sample, residents of seven West Coast retirement communities were interviewed. Data on religiosity were categorized into social religious activity, and personal religious behavior. It was found that retirement community residents drink more than senior Americans living in other locations; conservative Protestants, identified as those claiming affiliation with denominations that prohibit alcohol consumption, drink less than Roman Catholics or liberal Protestants; and those who score low on religiosity drink more than those who score high on religiosity regardless of denominational affiliation. It was also shown that for conservative Protestants private religiosity predicts drinking behavior, and for liberal Protestants social religious behavior is a predictor variable. The influence of religiosity on drinking behavior was found to be significant.     

Religious Beliefs,Diet, and Physical Activity Among Jewish Adolescents

Despite a well‐documented connection between religion and mortality, the link between religion and obesity‐related outcomes and behaviors has not been adequately studied, particularly among adolescents. This study examines whether self‐reported religious beliefs influence decisions about physical activity and diet in a sample of Jewish adolescents (n = 351). The results show that reporting a stronger influence of religious beliefs on health behaviors is associated with behaviors related to physical activity, but not diet. In adjusted regression models, individuals who report that their religious beliefs influence decisions about being physically active “a lot” have significantly more active days per week than those who say their religious beliefs do not influence such decisions. Similar effects are seen with regard to the students’ overall amount of sedentary time. The results shed light on previously documented relationships between religion and health, provide practical implications for religious organizations and leaders, and suggest areas for future research.     

The Education-Contingent Association Between Religiosity and Health: The Differential Effects of Self-Esteem and the Sense of Mastery

Using data from a representative sample of adults in Toronto, Canada, I examine the education-contingent association between religiosity (subjective religiosity and religious attendance) and four health-related outcomes: depression, anxiety, alcohol use, and self-rated health. I also test the extent that two personal resources—the sense of mastery and self-esteem—contribute to those associations. Findings indicate that subjective religiosity and attendance are generally associated with lower levels of depression, anxiety, alcohol use, and poor health. Moreover, although not entirely uniform, subjective religiosity and attendance tend to be associated more negatively with these outcomes among individuals with fewer years of education. While the sense of mastery suppresses the education-contingent influence of religiosity on distress outcomes, self-esteem generally contributes to those patterns. On balance, the suppression effects of mastery are offset by the explanatory effects of self-esteem. These findings elaborate on the well-established association between religiosity and health by illustrating education-contingent effects and potential counterbalancing roles of personal resources in these processes.     

Religion,religiosity, and South Korean consumer switching behaviors

• This study investigated the relationship between religious affiliation and level of religiosity and consumer product‐ and store‐switching behavior among South Korean consumers. Comparisons in switching behavior are reported for three different denominational groups prevalent in South Korea (Buddhism, Catholicism, and Protestantism), non‐religious affiliated respondents, and among persons exhibiting different levels of religiosity. Religious affiliation, including non‐affiliation, was not found to be significantly related to switching behavior. However, consumers reporting high levels of religiosity were found to be significantly less likely to engage in product purchase‐ and store‐switching behaviors than those reporting lower levels of religiosity. Consumers reporting high levels of religiosity are also less likely to engage in product purchase switching behavior than non‐religious affiliated consumers (i.e., no religiosity consumers). This pattern held across denominations. Statistically significant differences in switching behavior were not obtained between consumers reporting low levels of religiosity and those respondents who expressed no religious affiliation.

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Religiosity and consumer behavior of older adults: A study of subcultural influences in Malaysia

• Although differences in consumption patterns across countries are often inferred to be the result of different cultural values and religious orientations, they raise issues of validity because of the many country‐specific factors that may affect behavior. Furthermore, the effects of religiosity are confounded with those of variables that are associated with religiosity such as age. This paper examines the effects of religiosity on well‐being and changes in consumer preferences of 645 adults age 50 and older living in different regions of Malaysia who were surveyed via personal interviews. The results confirm the positive effects of religiosity on well‐being but show differences across the three main ethnic subcultures of Malaysia (Malays, Indians, and Chinese), and they provide little support for the hypotheses that the consistency of consumer brand and store preferences is influenced by religious values. It is suggested that the relationship between religiosity and consumer behaviors warrants additional research, focusing also on variables that relate to religiosity, method of analysis, and on mechanisms that link religiosity to consumer behaviors.

Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Individual Religiosity,Moral Community,and Drug User Treatment

Some scholars have suggested that individual religiosity inhibits deviant behavior. Others have suggested that behavior is more responsive to the influence of religiously‐oriented moral communities than to the religiosity of individuals. Still others have suggested that non‐religious moral communities, such as sports teams or self‐help recovery groups, are just as effective as religious moral communities. The current article examines the associations between addicts' reductions in drug and alcohol use and religiosity, increase in church attendance, and increase in addiction self‐help recovery group attendance, following participation in publicly funded treatment programs. Results indicate that increase in self‐help recovery group attendance and church attendance were independently associated with reduction in alcohol use. Only increase in church attendance was significantly associated with reduction in cocaine use. Self‐assessed religious conviction was not associated with changes in drug use.     

Adolescent Religiosity as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Parental Religiosity and Adolescent Health Outcomes

Studies have demonstrated the positive impacts of both parent and adolescent religiosity on adolescent outcomes; however, the relationships among these variable have not been studied. Our study was conducted to assess whether adolescent religiosity mediates the relationship between parent religiosity and adolescent emotional and behavioral health outcomes. A sample of 491 late adolescents ages 18–22 completed surveys that assessed their parents’ religious practices, their own religious practices, deviant behaviors, and internalizing behaviors. Findings suggest that adolescent religiosity mediates the relationship between parents’ religiosity and adolescent health outcomes such as drug and alcohol use and depression.     

Exploring the Enigmatic Link between Religion and Anti‐Black Attitudes

This review explores social psychological perspectives on the complex relationship between religion and anti‐Black prejudice in the United States. We examine the different ways in which religiosity has been conceptualized by behavioral scientists. We consider the methodological limitations of previous research, as well as how the advent of priming research introduces new empirical questions regarding religiosity and anti‐Black prejudice, such as whether activation of different religious conceptions (e.g., God versus religion) or priming via different types of stimuli (e.g., words versus images) produces different outcomes. Finally, we discuss the lack of diverse samples in the present literature and highlight the need for additional research with Black American respondents. Conclusions consider the real world implications of links between religion and anti‐Blackness for both White individuals (e.g., intergroup relations) and Black individuals (e.g., psychological functioning).     

The Complexity of Quest in Emerging Adults’ Religiosity,Well‐Being,and Identity

The construct of quest as measured by the Quest Scale raises complexities that this study addressed with online surveys measuring religiosity, ego identity, and well‐being of graduates from two Christian colleges. Intrinsic questers (those above the scale midpoint in intrinsic and quest scores but below the extrinsic midpoint) made up over half of those high in intrinsic religiosity and did not differ in Christian orthodoxy, religious identity, religious coping, or well‐being from the pure intrinsics (those high in intrinsic religiosity). Indiscriminately pro‐religious questing individuals (those high in intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity and quest) were less religious and showed poorer coping than intrinsic questers. Quest appears to be a reasonable measure of religious orientation, improving prediction of Christian orthodoxy, religious identity, and religious coping, and was more highly correlated with ego identity exploration than with stress. In association with intrinsic religiosity quest does not appear to indicate weak religiosity or poor well‐being. Instead, intrinsic questers may pursue a distinctive developmental trajectory, a path of existential searching by which emerging adults manage the demands of contemporary culture while maintaining a mature faith.     

Religious Resources or Differential Returns? Early Religious Socialization and Declining Attendance in Emerging Adulthood

The transition from adolescence into emerging adulthood is usually accompanied by a decline in religious participation. This article examines why such decline occurs at different rates across major Christian traditions and whether this variation can be explained by early socialization factors. Using data from waves 1 and 3 of the National Study of Youth and Religion (N = 1,879), I examine the effects of parental religiosity, church support, religious education, and youth group involvement on the decline in attendance five years later. Results show that these socialization processes adequately explain why attendance declines at different rates across religious traditions. However, these socialization factors do not have the same effect across traditions and often yield differential returns for attendance outcomes. These findings also suggest that comparisons across religious traditions can resolve the “channeling hypothesis” debate about whether parental influence on an offspring's future religiosity is primarily direct or indirect.