Religious Involvement, Social/Political Strain, and Depression in Contemporary China: How Does Religion Affect Subjective Well-Being Differently in a Regulated Society?

Wang, Xiuhua; Vaughan, Kenneth

doi:10.1080/00207659.2020.1797264

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Due to government regulations and social stigma, religion's role as a coping mechanism in China had been called into question (Wang and Vaughan 2020; Zheng, Ruan, and Liu 2010). It was unclear whether or not religion would be desired if the cost for participation is high and whether or not it would effective if it resulted in discrimination.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Search engine data provide real‐time and more objective statistics of individual sentiments. This is particularly salient in China, where political and social discrimination against religious adherents is relatively common (Adamczyk, Scott, and Hitlin 2022; Wang and Vaughan 2020). Moreover, surveys are often taken in relatively infrequent intervals and may not assess immediate reactions to the COVID‐19 pandemic, when uncertainty was at its highest (Bentzen 2019; Bentzen 2021).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further, as useful as this theory has shown itself, its application to China has yet to be adequately assessed, and the current state of research on religion's psychological benefits in China remains complex and understudied (Lu 2010; Wang and Vaughan 2020; Yang 2005). It has long been presumed that increased religious participation in China is at least partially attributable to instability caused by modernization, marketization, and rapid political change (Wang and Vaughan 2020; Yang 2005). Still, detailed quantitative analyses on this topic remain limited.…”

Section: Theory and Hypothesementioning

confidence: 99%

“…One line of argumentation has proposed that social, political, and economic instability in China has led to periods of extreme uncertainty and existential insecurity among the public. Religion has been proposed as a popular coping mechanism adopted by many in the public to attenuate the negative psychological effects caused by social instability in China (Wang and Vaughan 2020). The COVID‐19 pandemic has further added to sociopolitical tumult in China.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Trust in God: The COVID‐19 Pandemic's Impact on Religiosity in China

Ruan

Vaughan

Han

2023

Scientific Study of Religion

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Emerging research shows the COVID‐19 pandemic has made substantial changes to the religious climate of several nations. Surprisingly, China, the outbreak center of the pandemic, has been scarcely researched. Our study investigates how the COVID‐19 pandemic has evoked new religious disaster responses and provided psychological coping mechanisms during the pandemic. We also explore how the pandemic explains surprising rates of religiosity in China. Scholars have long proposed that religious resurgence in China has been a result of individuals seeking stability in turbulent times. We bridge parallel Literatures in these areas and treat the pandemic as a natural experiment for evaluating religious behavior over time as conditioned by heightened risk perception. Utilizing a difference‐in‐differences estimation strategy with panel data, our study reveals that the pandemic has led to a significant increase in religiosity in China, particularly in religious areas most affected by the pandemic. We propose that even in a highly regulative religious environment, with most of its population being religiously unaffiliated, religion is a significant resource for coping in China. We take an innovative approach to demonstrate this by utilizing online search data. Our research speaks to the sociology of religion, the social psychology of risk perception, and makes application to emerging research on the unfolding COVID‐19 pandemic.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%