Sources of Social Support: Examining Congregational Involvement, Private Devotional Activities, and Congregational Context

Abstract

Previous studies examining the relationship between religion and providing social support have claimed that religious involvement and social networks explain the higher levels of social support among religious Americans. By limiting its focus to attenders of religious congregations, this study seeks to understand if private devotional activities and congregational context also matter for predicting the provision of social support in a highly religious sample. Utilizing a sample of attenders and their congregations from the 2008/2009 U.S. Congregational Life Survey, a national survey representative of American congregations, this study uses multilevel models to examine the relationships that congregational involvement, private devotional activities, and congregational context have with providing social support. Results suggest that, among attenders of religious congregations, congregational involvement and private devotional activities matter for predicting the provision of social support, but two aspects of congregational context-size and theology-do not.

Mental Health and the Role of Religious Context among Inmates in State and Federal Prisons: Results from a Multilevel Analysis

“…The establishment of social ties is relatively common across religious identities, even between the religious and nonreligious (Olson and Perl 2011; Vargas and Loveland 2011); however, the extent to which social support extends beyond these boundaries remains unsettled. Merino (2014) argues that social support is more common among intrafaith ties, although this distinction may be driven by conservative theological beliefs, including those focused on themes of exclusivity (Blanchard et al 2008; McClure 2013; Scheitle and Adamczyk 2009). In contrast, while some religionists are likely to assist like-minded coreligionists, they do offer support to individuals holding varied religious beliefs (Schafer 2015).…”

Leaving my religion: Understanding the relationship between religious disaffiliation, health, and well-being

“…Social relationships have a notable positive impact on physical and mental health, and a great deal of research has been devoted to the underlying mechanisms (Umberson and Montez, 2010). Here, sociologists of religion have an important role in linking religious involvement to health and well-being, since religion plays an important role in individuals’ social embeddedness and social integration, providing for many a crucial source of both strong and weak social ties (McClure, 2013). …”

The Influence of Close Ties on Depression: Does Network Religiosity Matter?

“…A sizeable body of research has been dedicated to understanding the underlying mechanisms between social networks and well‐being (e.g., Berkman and Glass 2000; Smith and Christakis 2008; Umberson and Montez 2010). Social networks may play a role in linking religion to mental health (McClure 2013; Rote, Hill, and Ellison 2013), but the exact characteristics of network ties have largely been absent in the previous work. Using egocentric network data, this study indicates that various dimensions of network members’ religiosity—shared religious tradition, discussion of religious matters, and receipt of prayer support—have implications for mental health, and whether these associations are contingent on respondents’ own religiosity.…”