Religious participation and social justice: Individual and congregational effects
type: CreativeWork
description: Scholars in the field of community psychology have called for a closer examination of the mediating role that religious congregations serve in society, especially in relation to the promotion of social justice. The current study provides such an examination, offering a multilevel examination of religious individuals (n = 5,023) nested within Christian religious congregations (n = 62) with a particular focus on how individual and congregational level variables (i.e. theological orientation, frequency of religious participation, bonding and bridging social capital) predict individual prioritization of and participation in congregational social justice activities. In addition, the study examined cross-level interactions to examine how individual level associations may be different in different types of congregations, specifically in liberal versus conservative congregations, or high versus low bridging congregations. Findings indicated that both individual and congregational level variables were predictive of social justice prioritization and participation. Specifically, all four individual level variables of theological orientation, frequency of religious participation, bonding social capital, and bridging social capital predicted social justice prioritization whereas frequency of religious attendance and bonding predicted social justice participation. Demographics also predicated prioritization and participation. This indicates that personal theological liberalism, greater participation, and higher levels of bonding and bridging social capital were associated with greater social justice prioritization whereas higher frequency of participation and bonding predicted social justice participation. At the level of the congregation, only congregational bridging predicted social justice prioritization such that higher congregational bridging predicting greater social justice. No other congregational level variables predicted prioritization or participation. However, congreg…
abstract: Scholars in the field of community psychology have called for a closer examination of the mediating role that religious congregations serve in society, especially in relation to the promotion of social justice. The current study provides such an examination, offering a multilevel examination of religious individuals (n = 5,023) nested within Christian religious congregations (n = 62) with a particular focus on how individual and congregational level variables (i.e. theological orientation, frequency of religious participation, bonding and bridging social capital) predict individual prioritization of and participation in congregational social justice activities. In addition, the study examined cross-level interactions to examine how individual level associations may be different in different types of congregations, specifically in liberal versus conservative congregations, or high versus low bridging congregations. Findings indicated that both individual and congregational level variables were predictive of social justice prioritization and participation. Specifically, all four individual level variables of theological orientation, frequency of religious participation, bonding social capital, and bridging social capital predicted social justice prioritization whereas frequency of religious attendance and bonding predicted social justice participation. Demographics also predicated prioritization and participation. This indicates that personal theological liberalism, greater participation, and higher levels of bonding and bridging social capital were associated with greater social justice prioritization whereas higher frequency of participation and bonding predicted social justice participation. At the level of the congregation, only congregational bridging predicted social justice prioritization such that higher congregational bridging predicting greater social justice. No other congregational level variables predicted prioritization or participation. However, congreg…
author: Todd, Nathan R.
language: en
keywords: religion, social justice, congregations, multilevel
date published: 2010-05-19T18:36:50Z
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:25:08Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/16114