Social Ties and Selection into Voluntary Organizations: A Test Using First Time Visitors

• In Event: 161 - Section on Organizations, Occupation and Work Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 05. Social Capital and Networks I

Abstract

The issue of selection into organizations plagues contextual effects research. While organizational scholars argue that meso-level social processes exert an influence on individual behaviors and attitudes, rational choice theorists criticize that these effects are largely the result of aggregated individual choice. This problem is even more pronounced in voluntary organizations, where members face fewer constraints to exit. How then can we determine whether selection processes drive the effect of organizational context on member outcomes? I examine this problem within the context of political engagement through churches. A growing research program examines the impact of institutional features of churches and other civic organizations on individual political and civic engagement. However, the problem of selection is largely sidestepped. Using data from the U.S. Congregational Life Survey (2008) on a sample of worshippers attending churches for the first time, I test whether previous activism predicts attendance at an activist church. I then ask whether this relationship is contingent on previous social connections to the church. I find that among first time visitors, previous activism only increases the likelihood of attending a politicized church when the attendee has close friendship connections there. Otherwise, activists are no more likely than non-activists to attend a church offering political opportunities. I argue that these results offer an important first step in directly addressing the issue of selection and understanding how selection processes might work in subtle ways to influence and reinforce organizational contexts over time.

Author

• Marion Coddou, Stanford University