Religiosity and Social groups

Question 1

GENDER: Statistics

Answer 1

• Female churchgoers outnumber males by almost 500,000
• More women than men say they have a religion (55% vs 44%)
• Women express greater interest in religon and have a stronger personal commitment to it (Miller and Hoffman, 1995)

Question 2

Reasons for gender diferences

Answer 2

1. Risk, socialisation and roles
   - Men are less risk-averse than women so are more likely to risk not being religious
   - Women are socialised to be more passive, obedient and caring which are qualities most valued by religions
   - Women’s gender roles mean they’re more likely to work part time, thus have more scope for religion
   - Davie (2013): women are closer to birth and death which brings them closer to ‘ultimate questions’
2. Paid work
   - Bruce: secularisation processes such as rationalisation have driven religion out of the male-dominated public sphere of work
   - Religion remains more attractive to women than for men because:
   a) Religion has a strong affinity with caring values
   b) Men’s withdrawal from religion has meant that it has become feminised, creating spaces that emphasise women’s concerns

Question 3

Why are women attracted to the New Age?

Answer 3

• Gives women a higher status and a sense of self-worth
• Bruce (2011): childbirth means women are less aggressive and goal-orientated, suits the New Age more
• The individual sphere is the 3rd sphere. Women experience a role conflict due to their instrumental role at work and expressive role at home
• There are also class differences: m/c women like the control and self-development part to it, w/c women prefer a passive role

Question 4

Women, compensators and sects

Answer 4

Bruce (1996): 2x as many women than men in sects
- Stark and Bainbridge: people may participate in sects because they offer compensators for organismic deprivation, ethical deprivation and social deprivation

Question 5

The Pentecostal Gender Paradox

Answer 5

Elizabeth Brusco’s study of Pentecostalism in Latin America

• Pentecostal women use these ascetic ideas to combat the culture of machismo in Latin America, where men often spend 20-40% of the household’s income on alcohol, gambling…
• Pentecostal men are pressured by their pastor and church community to change their ways

Question 6

ETHNICITY: Statistics

Answer 6

• Christianity is the biggest religious group in the UK (72%)
• Significant numbers of Muslims, Hindus and Sikh’s

Question 7

Reasons for ethnic differences

Answer 7

• Poorer countries have more traditional cultures, so when they migrate this belief is brought with them
• Cultural Defence
  Brierley (2013): significant growth of new churches in London catering for specific languages
• Cultural Transition
  Herberg (1955) reason for high levels of religiosity among first-generation immigrants in the USA

Question 8

AGE: Statistics

Answer 8

• The number of 15-19 y/o attending church is predicted to fall by 1/2 between 2015 and 2025

Question 9

Reasons for age differences

Answer 9

Voas and Crockett (2005):

1. The ageing effect
2. The period or cohort effect
3. Secularisation