Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Religious Affiliation And Attendance As Predictors Of Immigration Attitudes In Nebraska, Courtney Lyons Breitkreutz

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study examines the relationship between religious affiliation, church attendance, and attitudes towards immigration. Following the ethnoreligious perspective, I predict that those who identify as Mainline Protestant, Evangelical Protestant, or Catholic will hold more positive attitudes than those who do not affiliate, which would reflect the teachings of their churches. I also predict that Catholics may have particularly positive attitudes because of social identity theory. Attending church services should be associated with more positive attitudes, according to religious restructuralism. Using 2006 telephone survey data of 1,135 Nebraskans from the Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS), I use binary logistic regression …

The Cyber Pornography Use Inventory: Comparing A Religious And Secular Sample, John Sessoms

Senior Honors Theses

While Internet pornography use is becoming increasingly common in today’s society, until recently no instrument existed to measure compulsive use. Consequently, the Cyber Pornography Use Inventory (CPUI) was developed in order to assess Internet pornography addiction. While demonstrating promise as an assessment tool, the CPUI was only tested on a religious population. In addition to being strongly opposed to pornography, religious males experience extreme distress from their usage and often perceive their behavior as addictive, despite no supporting clinical evidence. Therefore, it seemed necessary to explore the psychometric capabilities of the CPUI further by administering it to a secular population. …

Mining The Meanings And Pulling Out The Processes From Psychology Of Religion’S Correlation Mountain, Loren D. Marks, David C. Dollahite

Faculty Publications

The article illustrates how rigorous quantitative studies in three distinct and promising areas opened the door to additional related qualitative work. Using qualitative narratives from a landmark sample of 184 diverse religious families, the authors discuss and illustrate two research methods and that have been useful to them: triangulating data in the context of family, and seeking truth through progressive questioning. Next, consistent with the paper's primary purpose, the authors highlight three areas where the strong, correlation-based research foundation provided by quantitative social scientists of religion has created some prime, complementary opportunities for follow-up work by qualitative researchers. …

The Importance Of Undecideds In The Evolution Vs. Creationism Debate, Seth Steinman

Senior Honors Projects

As a scientific theory, evolution has as much empirical support for its core assertions as the heliocentric universe theory or the belief that the Earth is round. Despite a unanimous consensus in the scientific community about evolution’s validity, the General Social Survey (GSS) consistently reports that 85 percent of Americans are either undecided or do not believe in evolution.

This divide between evolutionists, led by scientists, and creationists, led by religious leaders, has enormous scientific and political implications, which include funding for basic scientific research, acting to stop global warming, and what schools should be teaching our children.

The most …

Underwood Collection (Mss 58), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and selected full-text scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Collection 58. Correspondence, diaries, papers, and genealogical materials of Joseph Rogers Underwood, U.S. Senator from Bowling Green, Kentucky, his wife Elizabeth Cox Underwood, his brother Warner Lewis Underwood, and his son, John Cox Underwood.

Mcdonald, Dan Allyn, 1905-1974 - Collector (Mss 343), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 343. Correspondence, legal papers, financial records and sundry other documents related to Eugene Scott Brown and his father-in-law, Gilbert Marshall Mulligan, attorneys of Scottsville, Allen County, Kentucky. Also includes stray Allen County court records, research notes related to the Civil War, and records about early telephone service in Allen County.

Shirley, Latrel, B. 1989 (Fa 543), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text (click on "Additional Files" below) for Folklife Archives Project 543. Paper titled "The Bible Time Capsule" written by Latrel Shirley about Lisa Gail (Morrison) Shirley's Bible and the ephemera stored in it. Includes colored illustrations.

Rite Or Wrong: A Comparison Of The Presence And Social Significance Of Body Modifications In Different Religious Groups In Minnesota, Emily J. Peterson

Undergraduate Research in Sociology

No abstract provided.

Types Of Prayer And Depressive Symptoms Among Cancer Patients: The Mediating Role Of Rumination And Social Support, John E. Perez, Amy Rex Smith, Rebecca L. Norris, Katia M. Canenguez, Elizabeth F. Tracey, Susan B. Decristofaro

Psychology

We examined the association between different types of prayer and depressive symptoms—with rumination and social support as potential mediators—in a sample of predominantly White, Christian, and female ambulatory cancer patients. In a cross-sectional design, 179 adult cancer outpatients completed measures of prayer, rumination, social support, depressive symptoms, and demographic variables. Type and stage of cancer were collected from electronic medical charts. Depressive symptoms were negatively correlated with adoration prayer (r = −.15), reception prayer (r = −.17), thanksgiving prayer (r = −.29), and prayer for the well-being of others (r = −.26). In the path analysis, …

Reading, Writing, And Religion: Institutions And Human Capital Formation, Latika Chaudhary, Jared Rubin

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

In this paper, we empirically test the role that religious and political institutions play in the accumulation of human capital. Using a new data set on literacy in colonial India, we find that Muslim literacy is negatively correlated with the proportion of Muslims in the district, although we find no similar result for Hindu literacy. We employ a theoretical model which suggests that districts which experienced a more recent collapse of Muslim political authority had more powerful and better funded religious authorities, who established religious schools which were less effective at promoting literacy on the margin than state schools. We …

Has A New Way Of Measuring Religion Uncovered A Religious Left?, Matthew Frei

Library Research Grants

Research typically reveals that religious voters tend to be conservative and Republican. However, a new survey question used on the American National Elections Study (ANES) was recently developed to separate individualistic Christians from communitarian Christians by asking whether they try more to help others or to avoid sin. Scholars have used the question to claim that religious communitarians lean to the political left. This analysis shows that the new ANES question is correlated with partisan identification, but should not be interpreted as evidence of a religious left.

The New American Civil Religion: Lesson For Italy, Andrew Koppelman

Faculty Working Papers

American civil religion has been changing, responding to increasing religious plurality by becoming more abstract. The problem of increasing plurality is not only an American one. It is also presented in Italy, where civic identity has been centered around a Catholicism that is no longer universal. Perhaps Italy has, in this respect, an American future.

Age, Period, And Cohort Effects On Religious Activities And Beliefs, Philip Schwadel

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Despite the theoretical emphasis on religious decline in modern societies, sociologists remain divided over trends in religious activity and belief that support or refute claims of religious decline. Much of this disagreement stems from the inability to distinguish between period and cohort effects when analyzing repeated cross-sectional survey data. I use the intrinsic estimator, a recently developed method of simultaneously estimating age, period, and cohort effects, to examine changes in Americans’ religious service attendance, prayer, belief in the afterlife, and biblical literalism. Results show that regular service attendance declines, predominantly across cohorts. There are also period-and cohort-based declines in biblical …

Religiosity In Adolescence And Emerging Adulthood, Carolyn Mcnamara Barry, Larry J. Nelson

Faculty Publications

According to IEA Civic Education Study, approximately half of American adolescents participate in religious groups (Torney-Purta et al. 2001) and half of American 18–24-year-olds report religious beliefs to be important (Inglehart et al. 2004). Thus, religious experiences are an important aspect of the lives of many adolescents and emerging adults (approximately ages 18 to the mid-20s) in the USA. Specifically, adolescents are fully immersed in identity exploration and ideally resolve this search in emerging adulthood. They embark on a quest to solidify their values and beliefs about countless issues, including religiosity. This essay will review the literature on religiosity among …

Same-Sex Marriage In A Welcoming World: Rights Consciousness Of Heterosexuals In Liberal Religious Institutions, Emily Kazyak

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Previous research suggests that gays and lesbians not only look to the law as an important site of social recognition but also pursue strategies to legitimate their relationships outside of the law, such as having commitment ceremonies in religious institutions. While previous research suggests that homosexuality is a divisive issue within religious communities, we know little about how heterosexual religious people understand same-sex marriage. I aim to fill this gap and analyze the rights consciousness of heterosexual members in liberal religious denominations. Drawing on in-depth interviews, I examine how people make sense of the relationship between law and social change. …

Institutions, The Rise Of Commerce And The Persistence Of Laws: Interest Restrictions In Islam And Christianity, Jared Rubin

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

Why was economic development retarded in the Middle East relative to Western Europe, despite the Middle East being far ahead for centuries? A theoretical model inspired and substantiated by the history of interest restrictions suggests that this outcome emanates in part from the greater degree to which early Islamic political authorities derived legitimacy from religious authorities. This entailed a feedback mechanism in Europe in which the rise of commerce led to the relaxation of interest restrictions while also diminishing the Church's ability to legitimise political authorities. These interactions did not occur in the Islamic world despite equally amenable economic conditions.

Dealing With Suffering: A Comparison Of Religious And Psychological Perspectives, Emily R. Pimpinella

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

One of the main tasks of psychologists is to help clients deal with suffering. In order to assist the client, a therapist needs to have an understanding of the client’s beliefs about suffering. Due to the importance of religion for much of the general population, and considering how beliefs influence clients when dealing with suffering, it is essential that psychologists be mindful and respectful of religious beliefs in order to provide competent service. In order to do this, therapists need to have knowledge about the religious doctrine that their client observes. Therapists also need to be aware of their own …