Varying Beliefs in God and the Self-Concepts of Mattering and Dignity in a US Sample

Abstract

The concepts of mattering and dignity have increasingly gained traction within the sociology of religion literature, as meaningful connections have been found between some measures of religiosity and these self-concept measures. Yet, questions remain regarding the connection between belief in God, religious doubts, or non-belief and the self-concept, as many prior studies presuppose religious faith or lack differentiation between different levels of belief. Using data from the 2017 Baylor Religion Survey (analytic n = 1,402), a cross-sectional and nationally representative survey of US adults administered by Gallup, we examined how current belief in God without doubts, in contrast to currently believing in God with doubts, agnosticism, and atheism, is associated with perceptions of mattering to others and a sense of dignity. Results from OLS regression analyses suggested that atheists and agnostics or those with no opinion regarding their belief in God may show slightly lower mattering scores compared to theists without doubts. By contrast, we observed that those with religious doubts or wavering faith reported slightly lower perceived dignity, yet atheists or agnostics showed no significant differences in perceived dignity with non-doubting theists. We interpret our findings in light of the existing literature and provide suggestions for future research.