Jared L. Peifer

The Economics and Sociology of Religious Giving: Instrumental Rationality or Communal Bonding?

Religious individuals commonly make sizable monetary sacrifices by contributing to their congregations. This social action resides in the overlap of religious and economic realms of behavior, creating a certain tension. Following a Weberian approach to social inquiry, I treat religious giving as social action whereby individuals direct their value-rational and instrumental-rational behavior towards others. Using data from the American Congregational Giving Survey and the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, I test hypotheses derived from a rational choice perspective, the sense of solidarity one feels, and from the religious meaning of the giver. Rational choice hypotheses produce mixed results, the solidarity impact is confirmed, and high levels of religiosity have a strong impact on giving.

Examining Links Between Religion, Evolution Views, and Climate Change Skepticism

Recent media portrayals link climate change skepticism to evolution skepticism, often as part of a larger “antiscience” tendency related to membership in conservative religious groups. Using national survey data, we examine the link between evolution skepticism and climate change skepticism, and consider religion’s association with both. Our analysis shows a modest association between the two forms of skepticism along with some shared predictors, such as political conservatism, a lack of confidence in science, and lower levels of education. Evangelical Protestants also show more skepticism toward both evolution and climate change compared with the religiously unaffiliated. On the whole, however, religion has a much stronger and clearer association with evolution skepticism than with climate change skepticism. Results contribute to scholarly discussions on how different science issues may or may not interact, the role of religion in shaping perceptions of science, and how science policy makers might better channel their efforts to address environmental care and climate change in particular.

Political conservatism, religion, and environmental consumption in the United States

The role of political conservatism and religion in shaping attitudes toward environmental consumption in the US is examined. Previous research suggests that while there is a mixed relationship between religiosity (measured in various ways) and environmentalism, political conservatives are unlikely to support pro-environment measures. Using nationally representative survey data, mixed results are found regarding the relationship of religiosity and environmental consumption: religious attendance and religious identity are positively related to environmental consumption, while belief in an involved God and biblical literalism are negatively related. Increased levels of religiosity, however, mute the otherwise strong negative effect of political conservatism. This suggests, surprisingly, that Green marketers and activists are likely to face less conservative resistance to environmental consumption among religious Americans.

The institutional complexity of religious mutual funds: Appreciating the uniqueness of societal logics

Abstract This article explores how social actors negotiate the competing logics they face as a result of their work in organizations subject to institutional complexity. In particular, I theoretically focus on the unique characteristics associated with societal institutional logics, such as religion, family, and the state. Empirically, I analyze religious mutual funds (Catholic, Muslim, and Protestant) in the United States that dwell at the intersection of the competing logics of religion and finance. Through interviews with 31 people who work at religious mutual funds (or fund producers) and content analysis of religious mutual fund material, I focus on the symbolic boundary work that religious fund producers engage in. I find examples of boundary blurring and boundary building and suggest institutional complexity that involves at least one societal logic is especially likely to foster both modes of boundary work. This, I propose, leads to an increased likelihood of enduring institutional complexity.

How Public Confidence in Higher Education Varies by Social Context

ABSTRACT Some research suggests a crisis of public confidence in universities and colleges in the United States. But approaches to theorizing confidence in higher education do not examine how confidence varies across social contexts, while empirical efforts to document confidence are characteristically limited by weak construct validity. Drawing on a nationally-representative survey of 10,241 Americans, we develop a conceptual framework that examines how political ideology, religion, parental career encouragement, and demographic factors correlate with confidence in higher education. Only fourteen percent of the US public reports “a great deal” of confidence in higher education. Evangelical Protestants, Catholics, Jews, individuals who perceive a conflict between science and religion (and are on the side of religion), and political conservatives are significantly less likely to report confidence in higher education, while parents who report the strongest encouragement of professional career paths for their children are significantly more likely to report confidence in higher education.

Socially Responsible Investing and The Power to do Good: Whose Dollars are being Heard?

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to better understand the changing contours of corporate responsibility. This is accomplished by determining what kind of American is interested in socially responsible investing (SRI). Methodology/Approach – Analyzing nationally representative survey data, I explore what factors are associated with self-proclaimed interest in SRI. Findings – I find that interest in SRI is generally not patterned along class or religious lines. Instead, the power to “do good” is more evenly distributed across American society. Research limitations – Future surveys should measure behavioral involvement in SRI and provide better religious affiliation measures. Social implications – Higher levels of SRI involvement should bolster the SRI industrys ability to pressure corporate America to behave more ethically. Originality/Value – This is the first analysis of nationally representative data on interest in SRI.

Facilitating moral maturity: integrating developmental and cultural approaches

ABSTRACT This study integrates developmental and cultural approaches to student development and finds that millennial college students are responsive to moral formation. A particular challenge to prosociality among contemporary generations is growing up within a cultural context that aggrandizes a self-focus during emerging adulthood. Businesses are increasingly integrating spirituality at work, in part because of the benefits religiosity has in developing prosocial behaviors. However, businesses and universities can have concerns about explicitly engaging religiosity. We thus study a pedagogical approach that engages religiosity to investigate whether this promotes prosocial moral values. Employing a mixed-methods design, we analyze quantitative and qualitative changes in students completing a management education course with this pedagogical approach and compare their changes over time to a control group completing conventional ethics courses during the same time period. Findings indicate that prosocial development is possible during college and that explicit attention to diverse religious views aids moral development.

Global Perspectives on the Use of Technology to Enhance Ethics, CSR and Sustainability Pedagogy

Recent years have witnessed how technologies such as mobile phones have not only revolutionized our daily habits but also completely changed the ways we receive information, process knowledge and c...