Religiosity, Spirituality, and Attitudes Toward Same-Sex Marriage

Attitudes toward same-sex marriage have changed dramatically over the last decade. U.S. adults are becoming more supportive of same-sex marriage, and there are a number of reasons for this change. Our research examines the relationship between cohort, religiosity, spirituality, and attitudes toward same-sex marriage. Using data from the 2012 and 2014 General Social Surveys, we examine the differential impact of religiosity and spirituality by cohort on attitudes toward same-sex marriage. We present models for four separate cohorts: The Millennials, Generation X, the Baby Boomers, and the Silent Generation. The Millennial cohort exhibits significant differences from the other birth cohorts. The results of our analyses locate various changes in these attitudes and provide directions for future research.

Related papers:

title: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AND CURRENT CONTROVERSIES IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION
abstract: The sociology of religion is experiencing a period of substantial organizational and intellectual growth. Recent theoretical and empirical papers on the sociology of religion appearing in top journals in sociology have generated both interest and controversy. We begin with a selective overview of research on religious beliefs and commitments. Second, we investigate the influence of religion on politics, the family, health and well-being, and on free space and social capital. Finally, we review rational choice theories in the sociology of religion and the controversies surrounding applications of these perspectives.

title: Conceptualizing Religion and Spirituality: Points of Commonality, Points of Departure
abstract: Psychologists' emerging interest in spirituality and religion as well as the relevance of each phenomenon to issues of psychological importance requires an understanding of the fundamental characteristics of each construct. On the basis of both historical considerations and a limited but growing empirical literature, we caution against viewing spirituality and religiousness as incompatible and suggest that the common tendency to polarize the terms simply as individual vs. institutional or ′good′ vs. ′bad′ is not fruitful for future research. Also cautioning against the use of restrictive, narrow definitions or overly broad definitions that can rob either construct of its distinctive characteristics, we propose a set of criteria that recognizes the constructs' conceptual similarities and dissimilarities. Rather than trying to force new and likely unsuccessful definitions, we offer these criteria as benchmarks for judging the value of existing definitions.

title: American Religion: Contemporary Trends
abstract: List of Figures ix Acknowledgments xi Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Diversity 16 Chapter 3: Belief 33 Chapter 4: Involvement 42 Chapter 5: Congregations 55 Chapter 6: Leaders 69 Chapter 7: Liberal Protestant Decline 81 Chapter 8: Polarization 94  Notes 115 Index 137

title: Changing Public Opinion on Same-Sex Marriage: The Case of California
abstract: Though public opposition to same-sex marriage seems reasonably stable nationally, support in California has grown substantially in the past two decades. Using data from six Field Polls of Californians since 1985, we explore the roots of that growth in individual attitude change and population changes. Cohort replacement can explain half the growth. Although all groups of Californians say that they have become more accepting of homosexual relations since they turned 18, the pattern is strongest for liberals, Democrats, and the less religious. These groups have also become much more supportive of same-sex marriage, while conservatives, Republicans, Protestants, and African-Americans appear at least as opposed today as they were two decades ago.

title: Religious Tradition, Religiosity, or Everyday Theologies? Unpacking Religion’s Relationship to Support for Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage Among a College Student Sample
abstract: This study explores the differential impact of religious tradition, religiosity, and everyday theologies on support for legalizing same-sex marriage among a sample of undergraduate college students. The findings suggest that among college students in the United States the group of everyday theologies—personal religious beliefs that emerge through individuals’ lived experiences and social interactions—that we examine has a larger influence on attitudes about legalizing same-sex marriage than do either religious tradition or religiosity (measured as attendance, prayer, and guidance). We operationalize the concept of everyday theologies as levels of endorsement for six different religious themes. Implications for social movements promoting same-sex marriage and future research are discussed.

title: The Next America: Boomers, Millennials, and the Looming Generational Showdown
abstract: The America of the early 21st Century is undergoing two unprecedented demographic 
changes simultaneously: our population is becoming majority non-white at the same time a record share is going gray. These transformations have created a society in which young and old don't look, vote or think alike-- putting pressure on everything from our politics and families to our entitlement programs and social cohesion.

title: Families and Faith: How Religion is Passed Down across Generations
abstract: The Emerging Religious Landscape 1. Families and the Transmission of Religion 2. Trends in Spirituality and Religion Across Seven Generations 3. Intergenerational Transmission of Religion, 1970 and 2005 Part 2: Family Ties and Religious Transmission 4. The Quality of Parent-Child Relationships 5. Grandparents and Great-Grandparents 6. Marriage and Divorce Part 3: Factors in Leaving and Staying 7. Religious Rebels, Zealots, and Prodigals 8. The "Nones": Intergenerational Transmission of Nonreligion 9. Tight-Knit Religious Communities: Mormons, Jews, and Evangelicals 10. Summing it Up: Families and Faith across Generations Appendix References Notes Index

title: Religion and Public Opinion about Same-Sex Marriage
abstract: The goal of this article is to analyze the relationship between religion, measured in terms of religious affiliation and religiosity, and public opinion about same-sex marriage, civil unions, and a federal constitutional amendment that would prohibit gay marriage.

title: Christian Denominational and Special Interest Political Action on Public Policy Issues Related to Sexual Orientation
abstract: Little empirical research has been undertaken to compare political activity of denominations and Christian special interest groups on a specific subject to see if special interest groups serve as a substi tute for denominational political action. I do this by examining Christian denominational and special interest political action on public policy issues related to sexual orientation. This study shows that most Christian denominations are taking positions on such public policies as are many liberal and conser vative special interest groups, although conservative groups are significantly more politically active. The widespread political activity of denominations and the extensive interaction between special inter est groups and denominations suggests that special interest groups are in no way acting as a substitute or replacement for them. This study additionally seeks to explain the variation in denominational activity by reference to lay opinion, theological orientation, and policy and governance structures. Christian special interest groups have different qualities that distinguish them from denominations, thereby offering citizens an alternative means of political influence, thereby offering an explanation of their political activity alongside that of denominations.

title: Race, Religion, and Opposition to Same‐Sex Marriage
abstract: We examine racial differences in support for same-sex marriage, and test whether the emerging black-white gap is a function of religiosity. We explore how religious factors play a crucial role in racial differences, and how secular factors have varying effects on attitudes for whites and African Americans.

title: The Measure of American Religion: Toward Improving the State of the Art
abstract: Recently, scholars have devoted renewed attention to the role of religion in American life. Thus, it is important that they use the most effective means available to categorize and study religious groups. However, the most widely used classification scheme in survey research (T.W. Smith 1990) does not capture essential differences between American religious traditions and overlooks significant new trends in religious affiliation. We critique this scheme based on its historical, terminological, and taxonomical inaccuracy and offer a new approach that addresses its shortcomings by using denominational affiliation to place respondents into seven categories grounded in the historical development of American religious traditions. Most important, this new scheme yields more meaningful interpretations because the categories refer to concrete religious traditions. Because of increased accuracy in classification, it also improves model fit and reduces measurement error.

title: Gender, Religiosity, Spirituality, and Attitudes toward Homosexuality
abstract: This article investigates the relationship between religiosity, spirituality, gender, and attitudes toward homosexuality. The article augments the existing literature by examining the effects of religious affiliation, religiosity, and spirituality on attitudes toward homosexuality separately for men and women using the 2008 and 2010 General Social Surveys. Results indicate significant gender differences in attitudes toward homosexuality for two variables. Southern residence decreases tolerance among men, but not women. Also, men who self-identify as spiritual, but not religious, are more likely to report that homosexuality is not morally wrong than their more religious counterparts; however, a similar finding was not evident among the women who self-identified as spiritual.

title: The Unmaking of Prejudice: How Christian Beliefs Relate to Attitudes Toward Homosexuals
abstract: We propose that the internalization of orthodox Christian beliefs serves as a basis for a personal moral standard that discourages prejudice against others as well as for self-critical emotions that follow upon behaving in a discriminatory manner. Two correlational studies tested hypotheses derived from our theory. Study 1 demonstrated that to the extent people endorse orthodox Christian beliefs, they report an internal motivation to respond without prejudice toward homosexuals. Study 2 demonstrated that, when controlling for the effects of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), endorsement of orthodox Christian beliefs was related to positive attitudes toward homosexuals as individuals or as a group, but not toward homosexuality as a behavior or lifestyle.

title: Spiritual But Not Religious? Beyond Binary Choices in the Study of Religion
abstract: This is a postprint (author's final draft) version of an article to be published in Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion in June 2013. The final version of this article will be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1468-5906 (login may be required). The version made available in OpenBU was supplied by the author.  per publisher rules, the text of the article was embargoed for twelve months after publication and was then made publicly downloadable.

title: How Denominational Resources Influence Debate about Homosexuality in Mainline Protestant Congregations
abstract: A growing body of research examines national conflicts over homosexuality in mainline Protestant denominations, but few studies have explored the concrete ways individual congregations are responding. We focus on thirty mainline Protestant congregations (in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church [U.S.A.], and the United Methodist Church) in the northeastern United States that have formally considered the issue of homosexuality recently. Based on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with these congregations' clergy, we assess how homosexual ity became a public issue in each church and how each denomination influenced the process by which congregations responded. Building on previous research on the relationship between congregations and denominations, we find that denominational resources about homosexuality, primarily in the form of structured educational materials, narrow the range of social processes congregations adopt in response. The more educational resources and structured guidance denominations provided, the nar rower the range of processes congregations took in response.

title: Conservative Protestantism and tolerance toward homosexuals: An examination of potential mechanisms
abstract: Religion and ToleranceBeatty and Walter (1984)Bobo and Licari (1989)Ellison and Musick(1993)Hunter (1984)Loftus (2001)( continued )Measure of toleranceIndex ranging from 1 to4 for ﬁve groups, generaltolerance index for least-liked groupIndividual binary items forﬁve target groups, Overallcivil liberties index of15 items, college teachingsubscale, speaking, andlibrary book subscaleIndex of overall tolerancecreated from 15 items,group speciﬁc indices forﬁve groupsCivil liberties index rangingfrom highly tolerant tohighly intolerant.Index ranging from 0 (norestrictions on civil liberties)to 3 (all restrictions)concerning homosexualsConclusionsDenominationsusually characterizedas fundamentalists areless tolerant of all groups.Tolerance decreases withincreased church attendance.Education leads to an increasein tolerance, taking intoaccount negative feelingstoward the target group.Protestants are least tolerantamong religious groups.Prominence of fundamentalProtestantism contributes tointolerance, but does notaccount for native southernantipathy toward left-winggroups.Evangelicals, with someexceptions, are committedto liberal traditions of socialand political tolerance.There has been a declinein willingness to restrictcivil liberties to homosexuals.Fundamentalist Protestants aremost willing to restrict thecivil liberties of homosexuals.DataGSS 1976, 1977, 1980GSS 1984GSS 1988Evangelical AcademyProjectGSS 1973–1998Religious groupings16 Protestantdenominations, Mormons,Jehovah’s Witness,Christian, Catholic,Jewish, noneJewish, Catholic,Protestant, andnonreligiousControl for fundamentalProtestantEvangelical collegestudents, public universitycollege studentsFundamentalist/Moderate Protestant,Catholic, Jewish, otherreligion, and no religion

title: Support for Homosexuals' Civil Liberties: The Influence of Familial Gender Role Attitudes Across Religious Denominations
abstract: Religious denominations vary in both their approach to the roles that men and women play in familial contexts, as well as their approach to homosexuality. This research investigates whether gender attitudes, informed by religious tradition, predict a person's support for civil liberties extended to gays and lesbians. Using data from the 1996 and 2006 waves of the General Social Survey, structural equation models are employed to relate the concepts. Traditional gender role attitudes and support for homosexuals' civil liberties are found to negatively co-vary over time. Denominational differences in attitudes toward gender and support for homosexuals' civil liberties are evident in 1996 and generally conform to an exclusivist-inclusivist continuum, but in 2006, differences are noticeably absent, suggesting that there has been a decline in the explanatory power of denominational affiliation during this decade.

title: Talking about Homosexuality: The Views of Mainline Protestant Clergy
abstract: Homosexuality is one of the most divisive issues within mainline Protestantism today. In this article we portray the many sides of mainline Protestantism’s debates about homosexuality through the lens of statements clergy made about the issue in early 2000. In interviews with 62 mainline Protestant clergy across the United States, 40 volunteered their views on homosexuality without being prompted. We describe the frames through which clergy understand and articulate issues related to homosexuality in the midst of contentious denominational debate about the subject. The majority of clergy who discussed homosexuality focused on the issue in their churches instead of in society at large, and in their denominations rather than in their own congregations. Moreover, virtually none of the clergy interviewed took hard and fast stands on the issue of homosexuality. Most approach the issue in a pragmatic, rather than prophetic, way. Our interviews also show that pastors who choose to speak on homosexuality tend to frame the issue in terms of the diffuse notion of “homosexuality,” rather than talking about gay men and lesbians as people.

title: Religious Subcultures and Political Tolerance: Do Denominations Still Matter?
abstract: This study examines the variation of religious groups in levels of political tolerance and addresses the extent to which these various groups exhibit particular subcultural traits based on data from the 1985, 1987, and 1988 General Social Surveys. The study considers current debates over the categorization of religious denominations and presents results using three popular classificatory strategies. Analyses of group differences and levels of homo/heterogeneity within denominations support the use of "religious families" as a classificatory strategy to examine attitudes toward civil liberties. Several promising directions for further research on contemporary denominational variations are discussed.

title: The Influence of Theology, Denomination, and Values upon the Positions of Clergy on Social Issues
abstract: A study of 321 randomly selected pastors of five denominations in the Los Angeles metropolitan area revealed that theological position was the best of three predictors of opinions and activities concerning a variety of social issues. The other predictors were denominational affiliation and extrareligious values (humanistic versus traditional). Contrary to Benton Johnson's hypothesis, extrareligious values were not a better predictor of position on social issues than theology.

title: Religion, Religiosity, and Nonmarital Sexual Conduct: An Application of Reference Group Theory
abstract: The research reported within examines two hypotheses derived from reference group theory regarding the inverse effects of religiosity on the prevalence of premarital, extramarital, and homosexual relations across faith groups. The first hypothesis asserts that the strength of these inverse religiosity effects varies systematically across faith groups, such that as religious proscriptiveness increases, the effect of religiosity increases. The second hypothesis predicts that there will also be systematic variation in these effects across these forms of nonmarital sexual relations such that faith group variation in the effects of personal religiosity will be most evident with regard to premarital sexual relations but relatively invariant with regard to extramarital and homosexual relations. Using logistic regression analyses with data available in the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) 1988-1996 General Social Surveys, we find a mixed pattern of results which provides limited support for these hypotheses.

title: Ambivalent Sexism, Scriptural Literalism, and Religiosity1
abstract: This correlational study explores the hypothesis that religiosity and scriptural literalism (the degree to which one interprets scriptures literally) are associated with sexism. Participants were female and male (N = 504) university students who anonymously completed the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (Glick & Fiske, 1996, 1997, 2001a, 2001b), the Scriptural Literalism Scale (Hogge & Friedman, 1967), and the Religious Orientation Scale-Revised (Gorsuch & McPherson, 1989). Intrinsic religiosity, extrinsic religiosity, and scriptural literalism were positively associated with benevolent, but not hostile, sexism. Intrinsic religiosity and scriptural literalism were positively related to the protective paternalism subscale, whereas extrinsic religiosity was related to the heterosexual intimacy, complementary gender differentiation, and protective paternalism subscales.

title: Prayer, Attachment to God, and Symptoms of Anxiety-Related Disorders among U.S. Adults
abstract: Considerable research has examined the relationship between religion and mental health. This study adds to the literature in this area by addressing two main questions: (1) Is the frequency of prayer associated with symptoms of anxiety-related disorders among US adults? (2) Is this association conditional on the nature of individuals' attachment to God? We examine these questions using data from the 2010 Baylor Religion Survey (N = 1,511). Results reveal no meaningful associations between the frequency of prayer and anxiety symptoms. In contrast, anxious attachment to God is positively correlated with psychiatric symptoms, while secure attachment to God bears a modest inverse association with these outcomes (when anxious attachment is excluded from the model). Results also show that prayer is inversely associated with symptoms of anxiety-related disorders among individuals who have a secure attachment to God, but positively associated with these outcomes among those who have a more insecure or avoidant attachment to God. Several study limitations and promising directions for future research are discussed.

title: The cohort as a concept in the study of social change.
abstract: Society persists despite the mortality of its individual members, through processes of demographic metabolism and particularly the annual infusion of birth cohorts. These may pose a threat to stability but they also provide the opportunity for societal transformation. Each birth cohort acquires coherence and continuity from the distinctive development of its constituents and from its own persistent macroanalytic features. Successive cohorts are differentiated by the changing content of formal education, by peer-group socialization, and by idiosyncratic historical experience. Young adults are prominent in war, revolution, immigration, urbanization and technological change. Since cohorts are used to achieve structural transformation and since they manifest its consequences in characteristic ways, it is proposed that research be designed to capitalize on the congruence of social change and cohort identification.

title: Vanishing Boundaries: the Religion of Mainline Protestant Baby Boomers.
abstract: This in-depth survey provides a vivid overview of the religious world of the Baby Boomers. The authors worked with a national sample of persons confirmed in the Presbyterian Church, examining the religious faith of Baby Boomers and exploring the reasons they gave for leaving or staying in the church. The authors identify eight types of young adults--half of them churched and the other half unchurched. Their findings provide some unexpected results.

title: Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults
abstract: Brad, June, and Amanda 2. The Cultural Worlds of Emerging Adults 3. Emerging Adult Religion in Life Course and Historical Perspective 4. Religious Affiliations, Practices, Beliefs, Experiences, and More 5. The Cultural Structures of Emerging Adult Religion 6. : Six Major Religious Types 7. Religious Trajectories from the Teenage Years 8. Religious Faith and Emerging Adult Life Outcomes (SES story in here) 9. Soul Searching Teenagers 5 Years Later 10. Making Sense of it All

title: Assessing Attitude Toward Same-Sex Marriage
abstract: This paper reports the results of three studies conducted to develop, refine, and validate a scale which assessed heterosexual adults' attitudes toward same-sex marriage, the Attitude Toward Same-Sex Marriage Scale (ASSMS). The need for such a scale is evidenced in the increasing importance of same-sex marriage in the political arena of the United States and other nations, as well as the growing body of empirical research examining same-sex marriage and related issues (e.g., Lannutti, 2005; Solomon, Rothblum, & Balsam, 2004). The results demonstrate strong reliability, convergent validity, and predictive validity for the ASSMS and suggest that the ASSMS may be adapted to measure attitudes toward civil unions and other forms of relational recognition for same-sex couples. Gender comparisons using the validated scale showed that in college and non-college samples, women had a significantly more positive attitude toward same-sex marriage than did men.

title: On the stability of church attendance patterns during a time of demographic change : 1965-1988
abstract: Demographic changes in the United States over the past 20 years (i.e., the aging of the baby boomers) should have led to an increase in church attendance. However, church attendance patterns during this period have remained relatively stable. It is suggested that this is only possible if (1) baby boomers are not attending church with greater frequency as they age ; (2) age effects are being offset by period effects moving in the opposite direction (a secularization hypothesis) ; or (3) age effects are being offset through a process of intergenerational exchange whereby younger cohorts throughout their life course attend church less frequently than older cohorts. These three possibilities are tested using Bayesian cohort analysis and the General Social Survey data set. Results support the third explanation. The gains associated with the aging of the baby boomers appear to be primarily offset by cohort effects. Specifically, pre-WWII cohorts attend church far more frequently than post-WWII cohorts. Therefore, as members of these older cohorts die and are replaced by younger cohorts, church attendance decreases, thereby offsetting any gains in attendance associated with the shifting age structure of the U.S. population.