Gabriel A. Acevedo

Is It Really Religion? Comparing the Main and Stress-buffering Effects of Religious and Secular Civic Engagement on Psychological Distress:

Using a random sample of adult residents from the state of Texas, we examine how religious participation and secular civic engagement buffer the effects of perceived financial strain and neighborhood disadvantage on psychological distress. Our findings suggest that (a) both organizational religious and secular civic engagement buffer the deleterious effects of perceived financial hardship on respondents’ psychological distress, (b) organizational as well as nonorganizational religious participation buffers the detrimental effects of perceived neighborhood disadvantage on respondents’ psychological distress, (c) religious involvement has a more robust buffering effect than secular civic engagement, and (d) nonorganizational religious participation can serve as a coping mechanism for respondents who suffer from psychological distress. Research implications, study limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Religion and Child-Rearing Values in Turkey

Numerous studies have examined the connection between religion and child-rearing values—operationalized in terms of the importance placed on specific traits in children—in the United States and other mainly Christian societies. Much of this work involves the relative priority placed on “intellectual heteronomy” (obedience to authority) versus “intellectual autonomy” (thinking for oneself). Here, we augment this work focusing on Turkey, a predominantly Muslim society. Using data from the World Values Survey (n = 3,401), findings indicate that religious factors are strong positive predictors of the emphasis on (a) obedience to authority and (b) good manners, but inversely associated with an emphasis on (a) intellectual independence and (b) imagination. The estimated net effects of religion are strongest and most consistent for intellectual autonomy. Furthermore, the links between religious variables and child-rearing orientation are robust across age/cohort, gender, and educational categories. Implications and future directions are discussed.

THE FATALISTIC IMAGINATION AND THE CONTINUED SALIENCE OF RELIGION IN THE MODERN WORLD: A TEST OF RESOURCE COMPENSATION/RESOURCE AMPLIFICATION HYPOTHESES USING CROSSNATIONAL DATA

The resource compensation hypothesis predicts that religiosity will serve as a cognitive buffer against structural constraints whereby more religious individuals will exhibit lower levels of fatalism than their less religious counterparts. The resource amplification perspective, on the other hand, predicts that religiosity will foster a sense that otherworldly forces control lifes outcomes, leading to higher levels of fatalism. Using a precise measure of fatalism from the two most recent waves of the World Values Survey, a comparative examination of three Latin American countries, South Africa, and the United States is carried out. With Mexico as the sole exception, findings from ordered logistic regression models suggest that higher levels of religiosity are associated with lower levels of fatalism, supporting the resource compensation hypothesis. Implications for longstanding debates over the salience of modern religion are considered. An important and underappreciated cognitive function provided by thriving religious denominations and institutions may be to provide a catalyst for personal empowerment that comes through the rejection of a fatalistic mentality.

Sectarian Affiliation and Gender Traditionalism

This paper will add to the expanding scholarship in the sociology of Islam and explore the influence of Sunni-Shi’a affiliation on views of gender traditionalism. Using a subset of the World Values Survey, we contrast views towards women’s roles in society held by Sunni and Shi’a respondents in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Pakistan (n = 10,799). Our findings suggest that views of gender traditionalism are not solely a function of sectarian affiliation but that educational attainment, income, demographic factors and national culture are stronger and more consistent predictors of gender traditionalism than sectarian affiliation alone. We draw from theories of religious incongruence and discuss the theoretical implications of our findings. These findings suggest the need for additional research that links sociological theories of religion to the empirical study of Islam, as well as a greater emphasis on the role that social context plays in shaping Muslim public opinion.

Contextualizing Events in Imagined Communities: Pre- and Post-September 11th Egyptian Attitudes toward Non-Arabs and Jews

The ongoing denigration of Arabs in the media, the Western democratic political shifts away from Muslim religious freedom, and increasing anxiety about Muslim radicalization prompt the question: How do Arabs respond to global events when the Muslim and Western worlds are perceived to clash? Our study draws on the theory of imagined communities to examine the extent to which exogenous world events influence attitudes towards out-group members in the Egyptian context. We apply a “pre-post” quasi-experimental design using the World Values Survey, and examine the influence the events of September 11 th , 2001 had on Egyptian perceptions of Jews and non-Arabs. Results suggest that intolerance towards both Jews and ethnic minorities decreased after the attacks. Results also suggest a complex, dynamic association between religiosity and tolerance towards out-group members. We conclude by discussing the theoretical contributions of this paper by highlighting the significance of context and religion when framing imagined communities.

Blood, War, and Ritual: Religious Ecology, 'Strong' Culture, and Human Sacrifice in the Premodern World

What social factors predict human sacrifice in premodern societies? After summarising key insights from competing theoretical perspectives that seek to explain the presence of human sacrifice in premodern societies, we empirically assess the explanatory utility of each theory. We draw from Starks ‘moral communities’ argument and Alexander and Smiths insights regarding cultural autonomy to highlight how the macro-level organisation of premodern societies impacted the practice of human sacrifice. Using data from Murdock and Whites Standard Cross-Cultural Sample, logistic regression models suggest that premodern societies that expressed community ties through religious ceremonies were more likely to engage in human sacrifice, while beliefs in spirit aggression are correlated with lower likelihood of human sacrifice. In terms of non-religious factors, societies that experienced frequent famine were slightly less likely to activity in the ancient world are partly a function of societal complexity. We conclude by specifying the theoretical implications of these findings.