Longitudinal Investigation of Religiosity Trajectories: A Latent Class Growth Analysis

This study examines patterns of change and stability in religious practices among Polish Catholics, based on a twenty-year longitudinal population-based study (1988-2008). Latent growth analysis confirms that the level of church attendance has decreased slightly, and this decrease is not the same fo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of sociology 2012-12, Vol.42 (4), p.33-55
Main Authors: Grygiel, Paweł, Humenny, Grzegorz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attendance
Catholicism
Church Attendance
Communist Parties
Educational Attainment
Elementary Schools
Longitudinal studies
Membership
Modeling
Poland
Religiosity
Religious practices
Residence
Secularization
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Summary:This study examines patterns of change and stability in religious practices among Polish Catholics, based on a twenty-year longitudinal population-based study (1988-2008). Latent growth analysis confirms that the level of church attendance has decreased slightly, and this decrease is not the same for all respondents. Three different groups of trajectories can be distinguished: (a) 47.3 percent of participants are characterized by high levels and stability of church attendance; (b) 33.5 percent of respondents belong to a trajectory class characterized by a slightly lower initial level of attendance, which decreased; (c) 19.2 percent of participants are characterized by very low levels of initial church attendance and the most rapid decrease. The authors also identify a number of social and personal characteristics that predict belonging to different types of trajectories. Gender, age, place of residence, elementary school location, number of people in household, level of education, region of residence, and communist party membership predicted membership in three trajectory classes.
ISSN:0020-7659
1557-9336
DOI:10.2753/IJS0020-7659420402