Explaining Jewish Liberalism in the United States: An Exploration of Socioeconomic, Religious, and Communal Living Variables

Objective. The purpose of this article is to explore three competing explanations of Jewish liberalism: the socioeconomic, the religious, and the communal living hypotheses. Methods. Data are drawn from the 1990 National Jewish Population Survey and the method of analysis is linear structural relati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social science quarterly 1995-03, Vol.76 (1), p.124-141
Main Author: Legge, Jerome S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Communes
Community
Conservatism
Economic conditions
Ethnic Identity
Gender roles
History
History and sciences of religions
Israel
Jewish Americans
Jewish culture
Jewish people
Jewish peoples
Jewish politics
Jewish socialism
Jews
Judaism
Liberalism
Modern and contemporary Judaism
Parents
Religion
Religion in America
Religiosity
Religious practices
Social conditions
Social research
Socioeconomic Factors
Standard of living
U.S.A
United States
United States of America
United-States and North America
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Summary:Objective. The purpose of this article is to explore three competing explanations of Jewish liberalism: the socioeconomic, the religious, and the communal living hypotheses. Methods. Data are drawn from the 1990 National Jewish Population Survey and the method of analysis is linear structural relations (LISREL). Results. In general, the religious and communal living variables are more powerful predictors than the socioeconomic in explaining liberalism, suggesting that it is these factors and not success in the U.S. system which explains Jewish liberalism. In contrast to previous findings for Christians, religious involvement is associated with higher levels of liberalism. Further, Jewish identity as measured by a communal living latent variable (primarily a measure of ethnic identification) has a direct negative effect on liberalism but influences it positively through its relationship with religious practice. Conclusions. Among the implications is that the U.S. Jewish community may be torn between maintaining a sense of self-identity, exclusivity, and ethnic pride and a religion which encourages tolerance, obligation to society, and generosity. Knowledge of this duality is essential in any attempt to understand Jewish liberalism.
ISSN:0038-4941
1540-6237