The Effects of Provincial and Individual Religiosity on Deviance in China

A Multilevel Modeling Test of the Moral Community Thesis

Bibliographic Data

ID3487575
AuthorsXiuhua Wang (0000-0003-1166-0226, Baylor University, corresponding author), J Jang (0000-0003-2228-158X, Baylor University)
Year2018
Volume9
Issue7
Pages202
Publication date2018-06-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel9070202
OpenAlexW2810354131
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited71

This paper examines the moral community thesis in the secular context of China. Using multilevel logistic regression, we test (1) whether both individual- (measured by affiliation with Islam, Buddhism and Christianity) and aggregate-level religiosity (measured by the number of mosques, Buddhist temples, and churches per 10,000 people in province) are inversely related to law and rule violations at the individual level and (2) whether province-level religiosity enhances the inverse relationship between individual religiosity and deviant behaviors. Results from the 2010 China General Social Survey and the Spatial Explorer of Religions provide some support for the moral community proposition that contextual religiosity affects deviance at the individual level. Specifically, we find provincial as well as individual level of Islam to be inversely related with the violation of the law and rules. However, we find that neither the provincial level of Christianity and Buddhism nor cross-level interaction is related to deviance. The only exception, cross-level interaction involving the individual and provincial level of Islam, is in the opposite direction (i.e., positive, not negative). The implications of our findings are discussed

Buddhism · China · Christianity · General Social Survey · Geography · Islam · Logistic regression · Multilevel model · Political science · Religiosity · Sociology · Statistics · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy · Psychology · Religion and Society Interactions · Religious studies · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access