K D Dougherty
Biographic Data
| ID | 39611 |
|---|---|
| NAME | K D Dougherty |
| GIVEN NAMES | K D |
| FAMILY NAME | Dougherty |
| SIGNATURE | DOUGHERTY K D |
| AFFILIATIONS | Baylor University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4925-3311 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 45 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 390 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 45 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 11 |
Religious/spiritual struggles, patience, and anxiety: A longitudinal examination of virtue and vulnerability
Belonging and Social Class at a Religious University: Can Discussions of Religion and Purpose Close the Gap
Sense of belonging is important in higher education. Unfortunately, sense of belonging is not evenly experienced by all college students. Using a theoretical framework based on the Culturally Engaging Campus Environment model, we examine the influence of social class and discussions of religion/spirituality (in class, with faculty, and with peers) on students’ sense of belonging at a religious university in the U.S. South. Regression analyses in …
Worshipping with the U.S. Flag
For generations, a silent symbol of politics in U.S. religious congregations has been the presence of the national flag in worship spaces. Despite debates over the flag, there is limited empirical research on its contemporary prevalence or influence in congregations. Building upon research on social sorting, we hypothesize that people with conservative religion and conservative politics sort into congregations displaying the flag. Additionally, w…
Assessing Longitudinal Measurement Invariance for the Short Christian Orthodoxy Scale
Religion, Tattoos, and Religious Tattoos: The Body as Sacred Subculture
Tattoos have evolved into a widely popular form of self-expression in the United States, especially for younger generations. Religious texts and images become increasingly common tattoos that now decorate the body. Surprisingly, previous research on tattoos is largely silent about religion. Given changing perceptions in the United States on tattoos, we ask: do religious people today have tattoos? And, how religious are people with religious tatto…
Race, Religion, and Belonging at a Christian University
Race plays a significant role in shaping sense of belonging in higher education. However, little research has analyzed religion and belonging at universities. In this study, we test four hypotheses about race, religion, and belonging with survey data from a Christian university in the South. For first-year students, Asians express less belonging than Whites, but no other differences by race or religion appear. Among seniors, Black, Asian, and non…
A person-centered approach to the dark triad traits and religiousness: Examining differences in intellectual humility, prosociality, and mental health in U.S. college students
Increased Bible Reading, Religious Beliefs, and Prosociality During College
Religious self-socialization theory posits that chosen exposure to religion can impact future attitudes and behaviors via the internalization of religious messages, but emerging adults in the United States tend to decrease their participation in religious activities during college. Therefore, unique outcomes may arise for the few that maintain or increase religious activity. The present longitudinal study examines whether and how an increase in B…
Changes in Politics and Religiosity Among Students at a Protestant University
College is a setting and time of profound change in the lives of emerging adults. This change can include shifts in identity related to politics and religion. Given widespread attention to the alignment of religious people with conservative politics and less religious people with liberal politics (i.e., the 'God Gap'), we ask: do college students who become politically liberal lose their religion in the process? Using longitudinal panel data, thi…
Tattoos, Religiosity, and Deviance Among College Students
For much of U.S. history, tattoos carried a stigma. The perception was that tattoos marked gang members and prisoners, not respectable church-going citizens. In recent decades, tattoos have become mainstream, even for some religious people. We analyze the number and content of tattoos in relationship to religiosity and deviance. We test four hypotheses using survey data from 3,525 students at 12 American colleges and universities, finding that th…
Racial Dynamics of Congregations and Communities: A Longitudinal Analysis of United Methodist Congregations, 1990–2010
Alarge body of research documents the difficulty congregations have in creating and sustaining racially diverse memberships. However, little scholarship explores the overlapping consequences of racial change in congregations and neighborhoods over time. Since the number of all-white neighborhoods has fallen sharply in recent decades, we ask in this study: what are the consequences of racial change in congregations and neighborhoods on congregatio…
Racial Diversity in U.S. Congregations, 1998–2019
Racially diverse congregations have become an important part of the American religious landscape. We use data from the National Congregations Study (NCS), notably including data from the fourth wave, collected in 2018–2019, to examine 20 years of racial diversity in congregations. We find that racial diversity within congregations has increased substantially between 1998 and 2019. There are more congregations in which no one racial or ethnic grou…
Worshipping Local? Congregation Proximity, Attendance, and Neighborhood Commitment
The growth of suburban and exurban areas pushed many Americans into commuter lifestyles. People drive automobiles to work, to shop, to play, and presumably to worship. Yet, recent decades have birthed a countermovement that pulls people back to urban centers and an emphasis on local environments, i.e. to "go local." Recognizing these centrifugal and centripetal forces, this study seeks to answer two interrelated questions: Are Americans traveling…
Race, Belonging, and Participation in Religious Congregations
This chapter discusses on race in religious organizations by examining racial group differences in belonging and participation in congregations. Race plays a primary sorting function in voluntary groups, especially congregations. Because of the formative influence of race/ethnicity on congregational culture, it stands to reason that members of the largest racial group would possess greater congregational commitaent than those of other races. The …
Religious tattoos at one Christian university
More than one quarter of Americans now have tattoos. The proportion is even higher among younger adults. Tattoos express affiliation and identity. For some, tattoos also express religiosity. Very little research exists on religious tattoos. The purpose of this study is to profile religious tattoos among students at one Christian university in the southwestern United States. We analysed 752 photos of tattoos on campus. One in five photos depicted …
American Flags in Religious Congregations in the United States
In an urban neighborhood of a Central Texas city, an Evangelical, Baptist megachurch occupies a city block. Three Sunday morning services draw over 2,500 worshippers each week. The services occur in a multi-purpose facility that transforms into three full basketball courts from Monday to Saturday. On Sunday, rows of interlocking, cushioned chairs fill the floor. They face an elevated stage. A band with multiple guitars, a drum set, an electric ke…
Worshiping across the Color Line: The Influence of Congregational Composition on Whites' Friendship Networks and Racial Attitudes
Religious participation has reinforced the color line in American society for generations. Despite rising racial and ethnic diversity across U.S. communities, most Americans continue to belong to congregations composed primarily of others from their own racial/ethnic groups. Yet recent scholarship suggests that the presence of multiple racial or ethnic groups in the same congregation is increasing. The authors examine how the racial/ethnic compos…
Prosperity Beliefs and Value Orientations: Fueling or Suppressing Entrepreneurial Activity
Entrepreneurs tend to think differently than nonentrepreneurs. Among the differences are values prizing achievement and self-direction, while downplaying tradition and conformity. Religion is an important correlate to human values. Nevertheless, previous research has failed to explore adequately the connections among religious beliefs, human values, and entrepreneurial outcomes. The purpose of this study is to test these relationships with a focu…
The Changing Complexion of American Congregations
The only constant in life is change, or so goes the familiar refrain. But when it comes to research on multiracial congregations, studying change has largely been overlooked. Questions loom about the changing prevalence, leadership, and composition of racially diverse congregations. Using three waves of data from the National Congregations Study (1998, 2006, and 2012), we offer an overarching examination of racial composition in U.S. congregation…
William Tecumseh Sherman In The Service Of My Country: A Life
The Continuing Relevance of William Sherman When William Sherman was yet a cadet at West Point, he proudly declared himself "in the service of my country" (161). James McDonough chronicles this journey of service that brought Sherman from humble cadet to full general in William Tecumseh Sherman
Attachment to God, Vocational Calling, and Worker Contentment
Existing organizational research overlooks divine attachment as a "personal characteristic" relevant to work. We argue that secure attachment to God as an internal working model can function as a "secure base" from which individuals form meaningful attachments to their workplace and work position. We further hypothesize that a sense of vocational calling (i.e., a belief that God calls individuals to particular work settings or jobs) will mediate …
Context of Religious Research
Congregational Size and Attitudes towards Racial Inequality among Church Attendees in America
Research suggests that congregational characteristics are associated with the racial attitudes of American churchgoers. This study examines the relationship between congregational size and beliefs about the Black/White socioeconomic gap among religious adherents. Method. Drawing upon data from the General Social Survey and the National Congregations Study, we fit binary logistic regression models to estimate the association between congregational…
Congregational Diversity and Attendance in a Mainline Protestant Denomination
One of the surprising oversights of existing research on racially/ethnically diverse congregations is the inattention to how racial composition relates to patterns of attendance. Is diversity associated with attendance growth, stability, or decline? A popular assumption from the Church Growth Movement is that cultural homogeneity is a foundation for growth, but recent research challenges this long-standing belief. We test these competing views wi…
United by Faith? Race/Ethnicity, Congregational Diversity, and Explanations of Racial Inequality
This study examines the extent to which the racial composition of a congregation moderates explanations for Black/White inequality among White, Black, and Hispanic congregants. Using nationally representative data from General Social Surveys and National Congregations Studies, we find that religiously affiliated Blacks and Hispanics tend to hold different racial attitudes than religiously affiliated Whites, but these differences largely disappear…
Racially Diverse Congregations: Organizational Identity and the Accommodation of Differences
Racial integration in religious congregations is a topic of keen interest to researchers and religious leaders. Although not common, there are congregations that successfully reach across cultural lines to attract adherents. Prior studies tend to dichotomize congregations into categories of multiracial and nonmultiracial and, thereby, miss a wider range of racial variation. Using nationally representative congregational data, this article paints …
United by Faith? Race/Ethnicity, Congregational Diversity, and Explanations of Racial Inequality
This study examines the extent to which the racial composition of a congregation moderates explanations for Black/White inequality among White, Black, and Hispanic congregants. Using nationally representative data from General Social Surveys and National Congregations Studies, we find that religiously affiliated Blacks and Hispanics tend to hold different racial attitudes than religiously affiliated Whites, but these differences largely disappear…
How Monochromatic Is Church Membership? Racial-Ethnic Diversity in Religious Community
It is a common conception that the church is among the most segregated of American institutions, yet there is little research to identify the extent of racial-ethnic homogeneity or to explain what factors propel diversity within religious communities. Research that does exist draws primarily on individual level data and treats diversity as a categorical variable. This paper introduces a continuous measure of racial-ethnic diversity. It also bring…
Recovering the Lost: Remeasuring U.S. Religious Affiliation
Over the past several decades, survey research has found a growing percentage of Americans claiming no religious affiliation. In this article, we introduce a modified religious traditions (RELTRAD) typology to measure religious affiliation. The approach benefits from a more detailed data collection and coding scheme of religious tradition based upon religious family, denomination, and congregation. Using new national survey data from the Baylor R…
A Place to Belong: Small Group Involvement in Religious Congregations
Large congregations are commonly criticized as eliciting less involvement from adherents than smaller congregations. Small groups have been heralded as a remedy to drawbacks of increasing congregation size. This study tests the relevance of small groups to individuals’ commitment and participation, particularly in large congregations. Analysis features the 2001 U.S. Congregational Life Survey and a survey of congregants at one Central Texas Megac…
Race, Belonging, and Participation in Religious Congregations
Significant effort has gone into understanding and promoting racial diversity in congregations. Still, uniting worshippers of different races remains a challenging endeavor. Even congregations that successfully attract worshippers of different races often have difficulty sustaining their multiracial composition. This study contributes to the discussion of race and religion by examining racial group differences in belonging and participation in co…
Race, Diversity, and Membership Duration in Religious Congregations: Race, Diversity, and Membership Duration in Religious Congregations
It has long been noted that religious congregations tend to be racially homogenous. Previous case studies assert that members of a numerical minority group face individual and organizational pressures that lead them to leave congregations faster than majority members. This can create a constant pull toward homogeneity despite congregational efforts to diversify. Building on theory in organizational ecology, we test this assertion using national, …
The Effects of Professional Training: The Social and Religious Capital Acquired in Seminaries
Debates over seminary education have been at the heart of some of the most heated denominational battles and schisms, often focusing on doctrines being taught at the seminaries. This research moves beyond the debates over specific teachings and explains how seminaries cultivate distinctive social capital (e.g., resources secured through social networks) and religious capital (e.g., mastery of and attachment to a specific religious culture). Using…
Congregational Diversity and Attendance in a Mainline Protestant Denomination
One of the surprising oversights of existing research on racially/ethnically diverse congregations is the inattention to how racial composition relates to patterns of attendance. Is diversity associated with attendance growth, stability, or decline? A popular assumption from the Church Growth Movement is that cultural homogeneity is a foundation for growth, but recent research challenges this long-standing belief. We test these competing views wi…
The Sociology of Religious Organizations
Whether willingly or not, the sociology of religion has become increasingly influenced by organizational theories and research. Despite objections, the sociology of religious organizations is an area of study rising in prominence. Growth comes from both explicit and implicit applications of organizational theories. In a push toward more explicit connections, we review three organizational theories with particular relevance to the study of religio…
Racial Diversity in U.S. Congregations, 1998–2019
Racially diverse congregations have become an important part of the American religious landscape. We use data from the National Congregations Study (NCS), notably including data from the fourth wave, collected in 2018–2019, to examine 20 years of racial diversity in congregations. We find that racial diversity within congregations has increased substantially between 1998 and 2019. There are more congregations in which no one racial or ethnic grou…
Workplace-Bridging Religious Capital: Connecting Congregations to Work Outcomes
Research in the sociology of work has long considered the importance of individual worker values but has not considered one of the central sources of those values: the congregation. In this study, we examine this understudied relationship and propose greater theoretical specification on religious capital. We argue that religious capital, like social capital, may have bridging characteristics. We introduce the concept of workplace-bridging religio…
Attachment to God, Vocational Calling, and Worker Contentment
Existing organizational research overlooks divine attachment as a "personal characteristic" relevant to work. We argue that secure attachment to God as an internal working model can function as a "secure base" from which individuals form meaningful attachments to their workplace and work position. We further hypothesize that a sense of vocational calling (i.e., a belief that God calls individuals to particular work settings or jobs) will mediate …
Congregational Responses to Growing Urban Diversity in a White Ethnic Denomination
Journal Article Congregational Responses to Growing Urban Diversity in a White Ethnic Denomination Get access Kevin D. Dougherty, Kevin D. Dougherty Direct correspondence to: Kevin D. Dougherty, Department of Sociology, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97326, Waco, TX, 76798-7326. E-mail: [email protected] Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Mark T. Mulder Mark T. Mulder Search for other work…
The Changing Complexion of American Congregations
The only constant in life is change, or so goes the familiar refrain. But when it comes to research on multiracial congregations, studying change has largely been overlooked. Questions loom about the changing prevalence, leadership, and composition of racially diverse congregations. Using three waves of data from the National Congregations Study (1998, 2006, and 2012), we offer an overarching examination of racial composition in U.S. congregation…
A Religious Profile of American Entrepreneurs
The entrepreneur is a celebrated figure in American society. These innovative risk-takers hold an influential place in the economy and in popular culture. Substantial research has gone into identifying characteristics associated with these individuals, but research on entrepreneurs and religion is surprisingly sparse and inconsistent. Using national survey data, we examine religious affiliation, belief, and behavior for Americans who have started…
Worshipping Local? Congregation Proximity, Attendance, and Neighborhood Commitment
The growth of suburban and exurban areas pushed many Americans into commuter lifestyles. People drive automobiles to work, to shop, to play, and presumably to worship. Yet, recent decades have birthed a countermovement that pulls people back to urban centers and an emphasis on local environments, i.e. to "go local." Recognizing these centrifugal and centripetal forces, this study seeks to answer two interrelated questions: Are Americans traveling…
Worshiping across the Color Line: The Influence of Congregational Composition on Whites' Friendship Networks and Racial Attitudes
Religious participation has reinforced the color line in American society for generations. Despite rising racial and ethnic diversity across U.S. communities, most Americans continue to belong to congregations composed primarily of others from their own racial/ethnic groups. Yet recent scholarship suggests that the presence of multiple racial or ethnic groups in the same congregation is increasing. The authors examine how the racial/ethnic compos…
Institutional Influences on Growth in Southern Baptist Congregations
Prosperity Beliefs and Value Orientations: Fueling or Suppressing Entrepreneurial Activity
Entrepreneurs tend to think differently than nonentrepreneurs. Among the differences are values prizing achievement and self-direction, while downplaying tradition and conformity. Religion is an important correlate to human values. Nevertheless, previous research has failed to explore adequately the connections among religious beliefs, human values, and entrepreneurial outcomes. The purpose of this study is to test these relationships with a focu…
Using Facebook to Engage Learners in a Large Introductory Course
Classes of hundreds pose special challenges for teaching and learning. Notable among these challenges is the tendency for students to feel like anonymous spectators rather than active, collaborative participants. To combat this tendency, we used the popular social networking site Facebook to cultivate a sense of community among 200-plus students in an Introduction to Sociology course. The Facebook Group proved a powerful tool for community-buildi…
Religious Orthodoxy and Entrepreneurial Risk-Taking
The relationship between entrepreneurship and religion is complex (Dana 2010 Dana, Leo Paul. 2010. “Entrepreneurship and Religion”. In ed, Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), and religion can help or hamper the entrepreneurial process, depending on the context and culture (Dana 2009 Dana, Leo and Paul. 2009. Religion as an Explanatory Variable for Entrepreneurship. International Journal of Entrepreneurship an…
Beliefs About Faith and Work: Development and Validation of Honoring God and Prosperity Gospel Scales
Disputes over the connection between beliefs and behaviors, coupled with the relative paucity of survey measures of specific theological beliefs related to work and its association with financial success, motivated the development of two beliefs scales: beliefs about work as a means to honor God and beliefs about God promising prosperity for believers. Analyses demonstrated these two scales to be distinct from one another and reliable. Using a na…
Changes in Politics and Religiosity Among Students at a Protestant University
College is a setting and time of profound change in the lives of emerging adults. This change can include shifts in identity related to politics and religion. Given widespread attention to the alignment of religious people with conservative politics and less religious people with liberal politics (i.e., the 'God Gap'), we ask: do college students who become politically liberal lose their religion in the process? Using longitudinal panel data, thi…
Religion, Tattoos, and Religious Tattoos: The Body as Sacred Subculture
Tattoos have evolved into a widely popular form of self-expression in the United States, especially for younger generations. Religious texts and images become increasingly common tattoos that now decorate the body. Surprisingly, previous research on tattoos is largely silent about religion. Given changing perceptions in the United States on tattoos, we ask: do religious people today have tattoos? And, how religious are people with religious tatto…
The Effects of Professional Training: The Social and Religious Capital Acquired in Seminaries
Debates over seminary education have been at the heart of some of the most heated denominational battles and schisms, often focusing on doctrines being taught at the seminaries. This research moves beyond the debates over specific teachings and explains how seminaries cultivate distinctive social capital (e.g., resources secured through social networks) and religious capital (e.g., mastery of and attachment to a specific religious culture). Using…
How Monochromatic Is Church Membership? Racial-Ethnic Diversity in Religious Community
It is a common conception that the church is among the most segregated of American institutions, yet there is little research to identify the extent of racial-ethnic homogeneity or to explain what factors propel diversity within religious communities. Research that does exist draws primarily on individual level data and treats diversity as a categorical variable. This paper introduces a continuous measure of racial-ethnic diversity. It also bring…
Institutional Influences on Growth in Southern Baptist Congregations
The Secular Revolution: Power, Interests, and Conflict in the Secularization of American Public Life
Recovering the Lost: Remeasuring U.S. Religious Affiliation
Over the past several decades, survey research has found a growing percentage of Americans claiming no religious affiliation. In this article, we introduce a modified religious traditions (RELTRAD) typology to measure religious affiliation. The approach benefits from a more detailed data collection and coding scheme of religious tradition based upon religious family, denomination, and congregation. Using new national survey data from the Baylor R…
The Sociology of Religious Organizations
Whether willingly or not, the sociology of religion has become increasingly influenced by organizational theories and research. Despite objections, the sociology of religious organizations is an area of study rising in prominence. Growth comes from both explicit and implicit applications of organizational theories. In a push toward more explicit connections, we review three organizational theories with particular relevance to the study of religio…
Racially Diverse Congregations: Organizational Identity and the Accommodation of Differences
Racial integration in religious congregations is a topic of keen interest to researchers and religious leaders. Although not common, there are congregations that successfully reach across cultural lines to attract adherents. Prior studies tend to dichotomize congregations into categories of multiracial and nonmultiracial and, thereby, miss a wider range of racial variation. Using nationally representative congregational data, this article paints …
Teaching & Learning Guide for: The Sociology of Religious Organizations
Authors’ introduction Contemporary religion is at its core an organizational phenomenon. Religious behaviour is channelled and religious communities are structured through congregations, denominations, religious nonprofits, seminaries, and other organizational forms. To understand religion, then, one must understand the organizational aspects of religion. This includes those aspects common to all organizations and those unique to religious organi…
Congregational Responses to Growing Urban Diversity in a White Ethnic Denomination
Journal Article Congregational Responses to Growing Urban Diversity in a White Ethnic Denomination Get access Kevin D. Dougherty, Kevin D. Dougherty Direct correspondence to: Kevin D. Dougherty, Department of Sociology, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97326, Waco, TX, 76798-7326. E-mail: [email protected] Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Mark T. Mulder Mark T. Mulder Search for other work…
Race, Diversity, and Membership Duration in Religious Congregations: Race, Diversity, and Membership Duration in Religious Congregations
It has long been noted that religious congregations tend to be racially homogenous. Previous case studies assert that members of a numerical minority group face individual and organizational pressures that lead them to leave congregations faster than majority members. This can create a constant pull toward homogeneity despite congregational efforts to diversify. Building on theory in organizational ecology, we test this assertion using national, …
Bonding and Bridging Activities of U.S. Pentecostals
A growing body of literature weighs the influence of religion on civic life. Largely missing from prior analysis is Pentecostals. With novel religious beliefs and practices, Pentecostals might be expected to focus more on in-group bonding activities than out-group bridging activities. We test this expectation using national data from the 2005 Baylor Religion Survey. We contrast three measures of Pentecostalism: denominational affiliation, speakin…
A Place to Belong: Small Group Involvement in Religious Congregations
Large congregations are commonly criticized as eliciting less involvement from adherents than smaller congregations. Small groups have been heralded as a remedy to drawbacks of increasing congregation size. This study tests the relevance of small groups to individuals’ commitment and participation, particularly in large congregations. Analysis features the 2001 U.S. Congregational Life Survey and a survey of congregants at one Central Texas Megac…
Christian Perspectives on Faith at Work: An Empirical Exploration of Faith and Work Associations Across Christian Religious Traditions
Race, Belonging, and Participation in Religious Congregations
Significant effort has gone into understanding and promoting racial diversity in congregations. Still, uniting worshippers of different races remains a challenging endeavor. Even congregations that successfully attract worshippers of different races often have difficulty sustaining their multiracial composition. This study contributes to the discussion of race and religion by examining racial group differences in belonging and participation in co…
A Religious Profile of American Entrepreneurs
The entrepreneur is a celebrated figure in American society. These innovative risk-takers hold an influential place in the economy and in popular culture. Substantial research has gone into identifying characteristics associated with these individuals, but research on entrepreneurs and religion is surprisingly sparse and inconsistent. Using national survey data, we examine religious affiliation, belief, and behavior for Americans who have started…
Using Facebook to Engage Learners in a Large Introductory Course
Classes of hundreds pose special challenges for teaching and learning. Notable among these challenges is the tendency for students to feel like anonymous spectators rather than active, collaborative participants. To combat this tendency, we used the popular social networking site Facebook to cultivate a sense of community among 200-plus students in an Introduction to Sociology course. The Facebook Group proved a powerful tool for community-buildi…
Religious Orthodoxy and Entrepreneurial Risk-Taking
The relationship between entrepreneurship and religion is complex (Dana 2010 Dana, Leo Paul. 2010. “Entrepreneurship and Religion”. In ed, Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), and religion can help or hamper the entrepreneurial process, depending on the context and culture (Dana 2009 Dana, Leo and Paul. 2009. Religion as an Explanatory Variable for Entrepreneurship. International Journal of Entrepreneurship an…
Beliefs About Faith and Work: Development and Validation of Honoring God and Prosperity Gospel Scales
Disputes over the connection between beliefs and behaviors, coupled with the relative paucity of survey measures of specific theological beliefs related to work and its association with financial success, motivated the development of two beliefs scales: beliefs about work as a means to honor God and beliefs about God promising prosperity for believers. Analyses demonstrated these two scales to be distinct from one another and reliable. Using a na…
Marital Naming Plans among Students at Four Evangelical Colleges
Despite increasingly egalitarian gender roles in the United States, when the wedding bells ring for heterosexual couples, husband and wife still commonly emerge sharing the man's last name. Largely missing from previous studies of marital name change is the influence of religion. We examine the marital naming plans of 199 students from four Evangelical colleges. Nearly all these students planned to marry and more than 80% planned to follow the tr…
Workplace-Bridging Religious Capital: Connecting Congregations to Work Outcomes
Research in the sociology of work has long considered the importance of individual worker values but has not considered one of the central sources of those values: the congregation. In this study, we examine this understudied relationship and propose greater theoretical specification on religious capital. We argue that religious capital, like social capital, may have bridging characteristics. We introduce the concept of workplace-bridging religio…
Congregational Size and Attitudes towards Racial Inequality among Church Attendees in America
Research suggests that congregational characteristics are associated with the racial attitudes of American churchgoers. This study examines the relationship between congregational size and beliefs about the Black/White socioeconomic gap among religious adherents. Method. Drawing upon data from the General Social Survey and the National Congregations Study, we fit binary logistic regression models to estimate the association between congregational…
Congregational Diversity and Attendance in a Mainline Protestant Denomination
One of the surprising oversights of existing research on racially/ethnically diverse congregations is the inattention to how racial composition relates to patterns of attendance. Is diversity associated with attendance growth, stability, or decline? A popular assumption from the Church Growth Movement is that cultural homogeneity is a foundation for growth, but recent research challenges this long-standing belief. We test these competing views wi…
United by Faith? Race/Ethnicity, Congregational Diversity, and Explanations of Racial Inequality
This study examines the extent to which the racial composition of a congregation moderates explanations for Black/White inequality among White, Black, and Hispanic congregants. Using nationally representative data from General Social Surveys and National Congregations Studies, we find that religiously affiliated Blacks and Hispanics tend to hold different racial attitudes than religiously affiliated Whites, but these differences largely disappear…
Attachment to God, Vocational Calling, and Worker Contentment
Existing organizational research overlooks divine attachment as a "personal characteristic" relevant to work. We argue that secure attachment to God as an internal working model can function as a "secure base" from which individuals form meaningful attachments to their workplace and work position. We further hypothesize that a sense of vocational calling (i.e., a belief that God calls individuals to particular work settings or jobs) will mediate …
Context of Religious Research
Sociology (37 works) · Psychology (28 works) · Social Psychology (25 works) · Religion and Society Interactions (24 works) · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology (24 works) · Political science (21 works) · Law (20 works) · Religion, Society, and Development (20 works) · Gender Studies (19 works) · Philosophy (14 works)