Insecurity not education determines church attendance
Published: 22 October 2009 15:32 | Changed: 23 October 2009 15:02
The long-standing theory has been that the higher educated someone is the less religious he will be. But new research in 60 countries proves otherwise. It is economic security that leaves churches empty.
By Dirk Vlasblom
Atheist scientists have been shouting it from the rooftops: anyone who has enjoyed a higher education has no business being in a church. Many European sociologists have offered a rising level of education as the explanation for dwindling church attendance. Now two Dutch sociologists are countering this theory.
Stijn Ruiter, senior researcher at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement, and Frank van Tubergen, a professor of sociology in Utrecht, compared 'religious participation' in 60 countries. They found no effect of education, but instead came to the conclusion that social insecurity and the environment people grow up in have a significant impact. Results of their research will be published in the American Journal of Sociology next month.
Resilience of religious America
There are two sides in the religion debate. Most European sociologists say modernisation leads to secularisation. But Peter Berger, the American who came up with that theory, later recanted it after the US proved how an economically developed society with a high level of education can indeed remain very religious.
US scientists subsequently came up with the religious market theory. They say minimal regulation of religion and maximum competition between congregations make for more appealing 'products'. The cacophony of evangelists and the radical separation of church and state would explain the resilience of religious America.
Ruiter and Van Tubergen do not choose sides in this debate. They tested elements of both theories for 60 countries listed in the World Values Survey. From the market theory they examined the idea that more state regulation of religion leads to lower church attendance. Modernisation, the central concept from the other theory, they dissected into three elements: modernisation through higher education, economic security and changes in social relationships by urbanisation and individualisation. They used church attendance as a measure of religiosity.
Socio-economic inequality
Regulation of religion by the state over the entire sample appears to lead to less church attendance. The scientists also see the results of their research as a partial confirmation of the modernisation theory. Partial, because supporters of secularisation attribute this to a scientific worldview, and that, surprisingly enough, proved to be a farce.
"Higher educated people rely more on facts and less on beliefs that can't be validated or are clearly false. Or at least that's the theory," Van Tubergen says. "But that's not what we've seen."
Why not, he can't say. "That's not what we investigated, but we have a hunch. Other research has shown that highly educated people are indeed less religious. But at the same time they tend to be more actively involved in political parties, associations and thus also in churches. Less educated people are more religious, but less active about it. There is a higher rate of churchgoers amongst educated believers than low-skilled believers."
The two other elements of modernisation can be explained: economic (in)security and the nature of social relationships. "Economic uncertainty has enormous impact on church attendance. In countries with large socio-economic inequality, the rich often go to church because they too could lose everything tomorrow, as was clear from the dramatic collapse of Enron and Lehman Brothers."
Close-knit religious communities
Religiosity is also strongly influenced by the social environment, says Van Tubergen. "There have to be parents, neighbours or fellow villagers who say 'let's go' or 'why have I not seen you in church on Sunday?' Whether your friends are practising, what your teachers tell you and how your future partner feels about it are major influences. People who grow up in a religious environment often remain very religious."
But changes in life can change that pattern, such as moving to a city and decreasing social control as a result of that. People who do so are more likely to become detached from their religion. On the other hand, religious communities tend to be very close-knit and children often remain in the community," Ruiter says.
The study explains at least two examples of increased or persistent religiosity under conditions of modernisation: Eastern Europe and the United States. In Eastern Europe after the fall of communism the state restrictions on religion disappeared while at the same time the transition to a capitalist system boosted economic uncertainty. So churches have filled up over the past 20 years.
Welfare state empties out churches
The US is no exception to the rule. "The US has long been regarded as a special case: a developed country and scientific vanguard that is exceptionally religious. But past researchers did not take uncertainties resulting from the high socio-economic inequality into account. In the US you can quickly climb the social ladder, but you can fall off very hard," Ruiter explains.
Van Tubergen: "Conversely, the link between religiosity and uncertainty explains why the churches in the Netherlands have emptied out. As a result of the welfare state great security can be found outside the walls of the church. It would be interesting to examine the impact of the current economic crisis on church attendance."
