Serving Saints: Contextual Variation of Religious Influence on the Environment

• In Event: Christianity and Politics in Latin America and Africa: Cross-Regional Dialogue

Abstract

Comparative research consistently indicates that the relationship between religious and political attitudes varies depending on where religion is practiced, by whom, and in what sociopolitical context. Perhaps accordingly, individual-level studies of the religious correlates of attitudes about the environment and climate change have yielded inconsistent findings: While some studies, for instance, find that religiosity corresponds to greater environmental awareness and protection, others find the opposite. This paper advances the literature in at least three ways. First, we illuminate several core problems with the measures, methods, and samples used in prior studies (many of which focus heavily on WEIRD countries). Second, we derive hypotheses about how religious group social status and minority or majority status may influence individuals’ environmental attitudes. A religious group’s social status, we expect, affects members’ perceived tradeoffs between environmental and economic well-being. Additionally, we expect that members of majority religions will be more responsive to national-level environmental threats than members of minority religions. Third, we evaluate these hypotheses using a nested research design. Employing hierarchical models allows us to control for state-level variables (e.g., the state of the economy, level of democracy, etc.), and examine individual- and group-level factors, such as religious beliefs, majority/minority status, and demographic factors (education, employment, income, age, etc.) We use data from Wave 6 of the World Values Survey, which includes 44 countries , and used uniform measures religious variables and attitude towards environmental protection. In line with papers on this panel, we also consider regional context and compare Latin American and sub-Saharan African states, specifically. Ultimately, we find that the evidence largely accords with Wald, who argued that religion “is not an independent variable; it is subject to the pressure of national [and other] stimuli.” Instead, to the extent that religion has systematic effects, it is responsive to group needs in context and cannot be ascribed in any enduring way to a passage in a holy book.

Authors

• Amy Erica Smith, Iowa State University

• Paul A. Djupe, Denison University