Social Context and College Completion in the United States: The Role of Congregational Biblical Literalism

Prior research has documented the influence of religion on a variety of stratification processes. Largely absent from this research, however, are explicit examinations of the role religious contexts play in educational outcomes. In this study, we focus on the congregation-level prevalence of a salie...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sociological perspectives 2015-03, Vol.58 (1), p.120-137
Main Authors: Stroope, Samuel, Franzen, Aaron B., Uecker, Jeremy E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic achievement
Belief & doubt
Bible
Biblical literalism
Christianity
College: Sports and Religion
Colleges
Congregations
Educational attainment
Faith
Fundamentalism
Literacy
Multilevel models
Protestantism
Religion
Religions
Religious Beliefs
Social Environment
Social Stratification
Sociology of religion
United States of America
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Summary:Prior research has documented the influence of religion on a variety of stratification processes. Largely absent from this research, however, are explicit examinations of the role religious contexts play in educational outcomes. In this study, we focus on the congregation-level prevalence of a salient religious belief: biblical literalism. Using national multilevel data (U.S. Congregational Life Survey [USCLS]; N = 92,344), we examine whether individuals' likelihood of completing college is dependent on the percentage of fellow congregation members who are biblical literalists. We find that college completion is tied to congregational literalism in important ways. Net of individual biblical literalism and other controls, congregational literalism decreases the likelihood of completing college. In addition, while congregational biblical literalism decreases the likelihood of college completion for both biblical literalists and non-literalists, the relationship is strongest for non-literalists such that in highly literalist congregations, nonliteralists' likelihood of college completion more closely resembles that of literalists.
ISSN:0731-1214
1533-8673
DOI:10.1177/0731121414559522