Metropolitan Size and Participation in Religio-Ethnic Communities

Rabinowitz, Jonathan; Kim, Israel; Lazerwitz, Bernard

doi:10.2307/1387124

Cited by 13 publications

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“…This mechanism is similar to the arguments of Rabinowitz and associates (Rabinowitz, Kim, and Lazerwitz 1992;Rabinowitz, Lazerwitz, and Kim 1995), who emphasize the need for members of ethnic religions such as Judaism to associate with co-believers in order to sustain their social identity. In cities with few Jews, members are more likely to attend synagogue because it may offer the only chance to interact with other Jews.…”

Section: Distinctive Subculturesupporting

confidence: 77%

Religious Market Share and Intensity of Church Involvement in Five Denominations

Perl

Olson

2000

Scientific Study of Religion

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Proponents of the supply side approach to religion theorize that religious market share-the proportion of people in a geographical area who belong to a given denomination-is inversely related to religious commitment in that denomination. They argue that a small market share motivates religious leaders to compete harder in the religious market place, increasing the participation of members. Another perspective, often associated with secularization theory, make the opposite prediction. It argues that people find it difficult to remain religiously committed in social environments where they are numerical minorities because other people do not reinforce their beliefs and practices. We use data from a large study of financial giving to analyze the relationship between market share and commitment for five denominations in the United States. We find that market share has a negative effect on church financial giving within all five denominations and a weaker negative effect on attendance in three of the denominations. We explore whether these effects are the spurious byproducts of pro-religious cultural norms associated with either the South or the presence of conservative Protestants in local areas. In models pooling all denominations, the negative effect of market share on financial giving and attendance cannot be explained away by either of these factors. However, the effect on attendance can be accounted for by congregational size.The growing importance of the "rational choice" perspective in the sociology of religion, particularly the "supply side" theories of Finke and Stark (1988, 1992Finke, Guest, and Stark 1996), has prompted interest in the relation between the composition of religious "markets" and religious participation. In general, Finke and Stark predict that religious participation and commitment will be highest in religious markets that are more competitive. They have proposed several indicators and/or causes of competition in religious markets, including religious pluralism, lack of state regulation of religion, and small market share. In this paper, we focus on market share, a religious group's share, or percentage, of all church members in a given geographic area. Finke and Stark (Stark, Finke, and Iannaccone 1995; Finke and Stark 1998; Stark 1997) argue that the smaller a group's market share, the greater the competition it faces, and the harder its leaders must work to increase membership and raise commitment levels if the group is to sustain itself. In contrast, groups with large market shares face little competition and may become "lazy," complacent about their hold over members and their sources of contributions.In addition to supply side theories, there are several other approaches that view small market share as a cause of greater religious commitment. These approaches suggest that small market share tends to heighten the "subcultural distinctiveness" of a religious group, making its members more dependent on the group for resources and/or more devoted to the values and beliefs supported by th...

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Section: Distinctive Subculturesupporting

confidence: 77%

Religious Market Share and Intensity of Church Involvement in Five Denominations

Perl

Olson

2000

Scientific Study of Religion

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“…These UJA findings also run counter to previous research that has consistently found a negative relationship between community size and particŸ in its various forms (Kim 1988;Rabinowitz et al, 1992), including charitable giving (Rabinowitz 1988(Rabinowitz , 1989(Rabinowitz , 1992Silverstein et al, 1987). These UJA findings also run counter to previous research that has consistently found a negative relationship between community size and particŸ in its various forms (Kim 1988;Rabinowitz et al, 1992), including charitable giving (Rabinowitz 1988(Rabinowitz , 1989(Rabinowitz , 1992Silverstein et al, 1987).…”

Section: Discussloncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…First the twelve dependent variables were analyzed using the multiple regression technique of multiple classification analysis (MCA) (see Blalock 1979:538-430) for scores and Ÿ and 4 The 13 point scale consists of: (1) New York, (2) Los Angeles, (3) Chicago, (4) Philadelphia, (5) Miami, (6) Boston, (7) large eastem with about 100,000 Jews, (8) large midwestem with about 85,000 Jews, (9) old midwestem with about 40,000 Jews, (10) new, rapidly growing westem and new southem cities with about 40,000 Jews, (11) old, eastem cities with about 40,000 Jews (12) old, villages with about 30,000 Jews and (13) new, villages with about 10,000 Jews. For its use see Rabinowitz, Kim and Lazerwitz (1992). The regional division was used to reflect the sizable difference in population growth be.…”

Section: Jewish Community Size Scalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 HYPOTHESES Based on the work of Fischer, BLau and Schwartz, and Durkheim together with the prior work done on the 1971 NJPS by Kim (1988) and Rabinowitz, Kim, and Lazerwitz (1992) it is hypothesized that: (1) Participation in Jewish community institutions will be negatively correlated with increased size of Jewish community, and (2) informal participation (i.e., primary group involvement) wiU be positively correlated with increased community size. 1 HYPOTHESES Based on the work of Fischer, BLau and Schwartz, and Durkheim together with the prior work done on the 1971 NJPS by Kim (1988) and Rabinowitz, Kim, and Lazerwitz (1992) it is hypothesized that: (1) Participation in Jewish community institutions will be negatively correlated with increased size of Jewish community, and (2) informal participation (i.e., primary group involvement) wiU be positively correlated with increased community size.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Changes in the Influence of Jewish Community Size on Primary Group, Religious, and Jewish Communal Involvement - 1971 and 1990

Rabinowitz

Lazerwitz

Kim

1995

Sociology of Religion

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Previous studies have …c~nsiderable variarions in the extent of Jewish lxnticipation in differ. ent sizes of United States Jewish communities. Receto worlr has suggestext that Jewish conmumit~ in the Un/red States ate becoming more hon~enous. This stud:y cornl~res the effect of conmnaary size on Jewish primary groulJ, relig~ous, and connntmal partia 'pation in 1971 and 1990. These rdaaonships ate studied from three indepetdent data sources: M ~o national Jetuish Polmlation Stra~s o… 1971and 1990, and rates o[ giving to Jewish communit'y [ederations as relmr by the Coundl of Jewish Federations in 1973and 1991. The influerw~ o[ size on conmmnd institutional inM~ was less in 1990 than in 1971, it was greater in 1990 on primary group variables, ard was relaliveby comtant for reli~~osit'y variables.

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“…From such a perspective, migration and the arrival of new settlers can help small communities reach a necessary ''critical mass'' to provide services needed for active religious and ethnic life. Indeed, previous studies have shown that religio-ethnic minorities, including Jews, in small viable communities are more involved in religious and sectarian voluntary associations and in formal organizations than are members of larger communities (Rabinowitz et al 1992(Rabinowitz et al , 1995. A fuller assessment of the impact of migration on ethnic and religious identification, however, would require examination of both communities of origin and destination, and the behavior of the people involved in such geographic mobility both before and after their migration.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of Internal Migration Determinants for American Jews, 1985–1990 and 1995–2000

Rebhun

Goldstein

2008

Popul Res Policy Rev

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Metropolitan Size and Participation in Religio-Ethnic Communities

Cited by 13 publications

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Religious Market Share and Intensity of Church Involvement in Five Denominations

Religious Market Share and Intensity of Church Involvement in Five Denominations

Changes in the Influence of Jewish Community Size on Primary Group, Religious, and Jewish Communal Involvement - 1971 and 1990

Dynamics of Internal Migration Determinants for American Jews, 1985–1990 and 1995–2000

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