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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Series

2018

Politics

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Are Biological Science Knowledge, Interests, And Science Identity Framed By Religious And Political Perspectives In The United States?, Joseph C. Jochman, Alexis Swendener, Julia Mcquillan, Luke Novack Aug 2018

Are Biological Science Knowledge, Interests, And Science Identity Framed By Religious And Political Perspectives In The United States?, Joseph C. Jochman, Alexis Swendener, Julia Mcquillan, Luke Novack

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Science trust and views of science differ by political and religious orientations. In this study we examine whether political and religious perspectives are also associated with biological science knowledge, science interest, and general science identity. Results show that conservative Protestants have lower biological science knowledge than other religious groups on several specific topics. Party affiliation is associated with vaccine knowledge but not science interest and identity. Adjusting for demographic characteristics explains some political and religious group differences, but not all. We discuss implications regarding attention to potential political and religious framings of science topics in public education efforts.


The Political Implications Of Religious Non-Affiliation In Emerging Adulthood, Philip Schwadel Jan 2018

The Political Implications Of Religious Non-Affiliation In Emerging Adulthood, Philip Schwadel

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Religious non-affiliation has increased considerably in the U.S. over the last few decades. The contemporary generation of emerging adults is the first to have a sizable proportion raised with no religious affiliation. This article uses nationally representative, longitudinal survey data to examine how both non-affiliation in adolescence and switching to non-affiliation in emerging adulthood influence political interest, behaviors, orientation, and partisanship. The results show the following: 1) that unaffiliated emerging adults are less politically active than the religiously affiliated; 2) that the unaffiliated are relatively liberal and unlikely to be Republican; 3) that the unaffiliated are more likely than the …