The Role of Parental Religiosity in High School Completion

Bibliographic Data

ID2154705
AuthorsCharles E Stokes (0000-0003-2547-5937, a Department of Sociology and Population Research Center , University of Texas at Austin , Austin, Texas, USA, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume28
Issue5
Pages531-555
Publication date2008-07-31
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociological Spectrum (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0273-2173 • E-ISSN: 1521-0707
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02732170802206153
PMID20396644
PMCIDPMC2854401
OpenAlexW2087087369
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited26

Scientists have produced a modest literature documenting the associations between individual religious behaviors and educational outcomes. Most scholars hypothesize that religion provides a context of social capital in which students reap educational benefit (or detriment) from the adults in the religious community. Despite the intergenerational influence inherent in the various social capital explanations, few studies have directly examined the role of parental religiosity in the educational outcomes of adolescents. In this study, I begin to address this gap by investigating whether and how parental religiosity is associated with a student's chances of graduating from high school. I seek to answer three questions related to parental religiosity and students' high school graduation. First, does parental religiosity affect a student's chances of graduating from high school? Second, if parental religiosity is associated with high school graduation, does it operate primarily through the student's own religiosity or is there an independent effect? Third, if parental religiosity is independently associated with a student's high school graduation, what are the mechanisms by which it is associated? Using data from the first and third waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), I find that students whose parents attend religious services more often have greater odds of completing high school, and students who attend religious services with parents are almost 40% more likely to finish high school, net of a number of other religious and sociodemographic factors

Affect (linguistics · Context (archaeology · Developmental psychology · Graduation (instrument · Odds · Religiosity · Social capital · Social science · Sociology · Medicine · Psychology · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Society, and Development · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Social Psychology

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