Raquel Zanatta Coutinho

The changing landscape of religious affiliation in Brazil between 1980 and 2010: age, period, and cohort perspectives

There has been a remarkable decline in the number of Catholics in Brazil over the last few decades, a fact that is attributed to the growth of Pentecostal churches and to an increase in the number of people with no religious affiliation. We analyzed the age, period, and cohort effects associated with religious affiliation in Brazil from 1980 to 2010, applying the Hierarchical Age-Period-Cohort and Cross-Classified Random Effects Model. We observed that age effects were significant but low for Catholics and Pentecostals, and were substantial for those with no religious affiliation, with a negative relationship. For these first two religious affiliations, period effects were of greater magnitude with clear trends: negative for Catholics and positive for Pentecostals. Cohort effects were significant for all three affiliations, but magnitudes were lower than the other two effects. We also verified that the likelihood of being a Pentecostal decreased with formal education, and the opposite occurred for persons with no religious affiliation. These effects, however, were smaller for younger cohorts, possibly due to the reduced social selectivity of recent students pursuing higher education and the increase in overall levels of education.There has been a remarkable decline in the number of Catholics in Brazil over the last few decades, a fact that is attributed to the growth of Pentecostal churches and to an increase in the number of people with no religious affiliation. We analyzed the age, period, and cohort effects associated with religious affiliation in Brazil from 1980 to 2010, applying the Hierarchical Age-Period-Cohort and Cross-Classified Random Effects Model. We observed that age effects were significant but low for Catholics and Pentecostals, and were substantial for those with no religious affiliation, with a negative relationship. For these first two religious affiliations, period effects were of greater magnitude with clear trends: negative for Catholics and positive for Pentecostals. Cohort effects were significant for all three affiliations, but magnitudes were lower than the other two effects. We also verified that the likelihood of being a Pentecostal decreased with formal education, and the opposite occurred for persons with no religious affiliation. These effects, however, were smaller for younger cohorts, possibly due to the reduced social selectivity of recent students pursuing higher education and the increase in overall levels of education.

Religião, religiosidade e iniciação sexual na adolescência e juventude: lições de uma revisão bibliográfica sistemática de mais de meio século de pesquisas

The influence of religion on sexuality has been under investigation by international researchers for nearly half a century. Religion as a variable with effects on sexual behavior has emerged in Brazilian literature as this society goes through two related sets of changes, to wit, the religious landscape and norms and values associated with sexuality. Given the growing interest in this latter demographic variable, studies are needed on which to base future research in Brazil. The present paper seeks to review the Brazilian and international literature on links among religion, religiosity and adolescent sexual initiation and to identify manners of classifying religion and religiosity. Methodological issues that should be taken into account in studies on adolescent sexuality and religion are also discussed briefly. The literature review tracks and analyzes articles published between 1950 and 2010 in Portuguese and English using the SciELO, Atla and JSTOR databases as well as master´s theses and PhD dissertations from Cedeplar and theses and dissertations from UFMG (online database).

Um estudo sobre a filiação religiosa no Brasil entre 1980 e 2010: efeitos de idade, período e coorte

There has been a remarkable decline in the number of Catholics in Brazil over the last few decades, a fact that is attributed to the growth of Pentecostal churches and to an increase in the number of people with no religious affiliation. We analyzed the age, period, and cohort effects associated with religious affiliation in Brazil from 1980 to 2010, applying the Hierarchical Age-Period-Cohort and Cross-Classified Random Effects Model. We observed that age effects were significant but low for Catholics and Pentecostals, and were substantial for those with no religious affiliation, with a negative relationship. For these first two religious affiliations, period effects were of greater magnitude with clear trends: negative for Catholics and positive for Pentecostals. Cohort effects were significant for all three affiliations, but magnitudes were lower than the other two effects. We also verified that the likelihood of being a Pentecostal decreased with formal education, and the opposite occurred for persons with no religious affiliation. These effects, however, were smaller for younger cohorts, possibly due to the reduced social selectivity of recent students pursuing higher education and the increase in overall levels of education.There has been a remarkable decline in the number of Catholics in Brazil over the last few decades, a fact that is attributed to the growth of Pentecostal churches and to an increase in the number of people with no religious affiliation. We analyzed the age, period, and cohort effects associated with religious affiliation in Brazil from 1980 to 2010, applying the Hierarchical Age-Period-Cohort and Cross-Classified Random Effects Model. We observed that age effects were significant but low for Catholics and Pentecostals, and were substantial for those with no religious affiliation, with a negative relationship. For these first two religious affiliations, period effects were of greater magnitude with clear trends: negative for Catholics and positive for Pentecostals. Cohort effects were significant for all three affiliations, but magnitudes were lower than the other two effects. We also verified that the likelihood of being a Pentecostal decreased with formal education, and the opposite occurred for persons with no religious affiliation. These effects, however, were smaller for younger cohorts, possibly due to the reduced social selectivity of recent students pursuing higher education and the increase in overall levels of education.

El cambio de panorama de las afiliaciones religiosas en Brasil entre 1980 y 2010: perspectivas de edad, período y cohorte

There has been a remarkable decline in the number of Catholics in Brazil over the last few decades, a fact that is attributed to the growth of Pentecostal churches and to an increase in the number of people with no religious affiliation. We analyzed the age, period, and cohort effects associated with religious affiliation in Brazil from 1980 to 2010, applying the Hierarchical Age-Period-Cohort and Cross-Classified Random Effects Model. We observed that age effects were significant but low for Catholics and Pentecostals, and were substantial for those with no religious affiliation, with a negative relationship. For these first two religious affiliations, period effects were of greater magnitude with clear trends: negative for Catholics and positive for Pentecostals. Cohort effects were significant for all three affiliations, but magnitudes were lower than the other two effects. We also verified that the likelihood of being a Pentecostal decreased with formal education, and the opposite occurred for persons with no religious affiliation. These effects, however, were smaller for younger cohorts, possibly due to the reduced social selectivity of recent students pursuing higher education and the increase in overall levels of education.There has been a remarkable decline in the number of Catholics in Brazil over the last few decades, a fact that is attributed to the growth of Pentecostal churches and to an increase in the number of people with no religious affiliation. We analyzed the age, period, and cohort effects associated with religious affiliation in Brazil from 1980 to 2010, applying the Hierarchical Age-Period-Cohort and Cross-Classified Random Effects Model. We observed that age effects were significant but low for Catholics and Pentecostals, and were substantial for those with no religious affiliation, with a negative relationship. For these first two religious affiliations, period effects were of greater magnitude with clear trends: negative for Catholics and positive for Pentecostals. Cohort effects were significant for all three affiliations, but magnitudes were lower than the other two effects. We also verified that the likelihood of being a Pentecostal decreased with formal education, and the opposite occurred for persons with no religious affiliation. These effects, however, were smaller for younger cohorts, possibly due to the reduced social selectivity of recent students pursuing higher education and the increase in overall levels of education.

Religión, religiosidad e iniciación sexual en la adolescencia y la juventud: lecciones de una revisión bibliográfica sistemática de más de medio siglo de investigación

The influence of religion on sexuality has been under investigation by international researchers for nearly half a century. Religion as a variable with effects on sexual behavior has emerged in Brazilian literature as this society goes through two related sets of changes, to wit, the religious landscape and norms and values associated with sexuality. Given the growing interest in this latter demographic variable, studies are needed on which to base future research in Brazil. The present paper seeks to review the Brazilian and international literature on links among religion, religiosity and adolescent sexual initiation and to identify manners of classifying religion and religiosity. Methodological issues that should be taken into account in studies on adolescent sexuality and religion are also discussed briefly. The literature review tracks and analyzes articles published between 1950 and 2010 in Portuguese and English using the SciELO, Atla and JSTOR databases as well as master´s theses and PhD dissertations from Cedeplar and theses and dissertations from UFMG (online database).

Religion, religiosity and sexual initiation during adolescence: lessons from a systematic literature review of a half-century of research

The influence of religion on sexuality has been under investigation by international researchers for nearly half a century. Religion as a variable with effects on sexual behavior has emerged in Brazilian literature as this society goes through two related sets of changes, to wit, the religious landscape and norms and values associated with sexuality. Given the growing interest in this latter demographic variable, studies are needed on which to base future research in Brazil. The present paper seeks to review the Brazilian and international literature on links among religion, religiosity and adolescent sexual initiation and to identify manners of classifying religion and religiosity. Methodological issues that should be taken into account in studies on adolescent sexuality and religion are also discussed briefly. The literature review tracks and analyzes articles published between 1950 and 2010 in Portuguese and English using the SciELO, Atla and JSTOR databases as well as master´s theses and PhD dissertations from Cedeplar and theses and dissertations from UFMG (online database).

Incorporating social theory into demography and family research

Published in 2011, Understanding family change and variation: toward a theory of conjunctural action, is the result of a 7-year-long collective effort of four main authors (J. A. Johnson-Hanks; C. A. Bachrach; S. P. Morgan; H.-P. Kohler), three main contributors (L. Hoelter; R. King; P. Smock) and hundreds of collaborators, with the intention of bringing social demography closer to social theory. Although the book’s pages are permeated with references that together comprise a very valuable review of the literature, this is not a handbook of theory for demographers. The authors present an altogether new framework, based on their combined extensive research, which included inviting theorists and experts in family studies to their meetings to discuss and enrich their ideas. Funded by one of the major governmental agencies in the United States (National Institutes of Health), the initial proposal consisted of reviewing and critiquing existing research, theory and practice in the social demography of the family. When the group realized there was a shared a dissatisfaction with the many theoretical models already available, they began rediscussing theories on family, questioning and re-shaping well-established assumptions and meanings in family research, up to the point where a new, more embracing, framework was compiled: the Theory of Conjunctural Action (TCA). Given that studying family change and variation is important for making sense of the social and cultural patterns of demographic data, the authors argue that demographers miss the opportunity to explain social phenomena when they limit themselves to describing their data without critical thinking, or when they are narrowed by the dominant models of explanation and causality without “questioning the assumptions about the meaning of categories and concepts” (JOHNSON-HANKS et al., 2011, p. x). Thus, the main objective of the authors of this book was to provide a framework that all scholars of the family could draw on for their explanations of its multiple realities.