From Belief to Benevolence: Religious Influences on Youth Philanthropy

• In Event: Sociology of Religion Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 4. Religiosity: Its Influence and Measurement

Abstract

From beliefs to benevolence, religiosity is an important influence in civic motivations. Civic engagement is crucial for democratic involvement in social change, and civic beliefs in are important foundations to adult civic actions. As a facet of broader attention to positive youth development, research demonstrates the utility of studying civic development. Civic development is a multi-faceted construct that entails beliefs, identity, and activities. Youth who are involved in volunteering and other forms of civic engagement early in their formative years evidence more sustained prosocial involvement as adults. Providing formative civic experiences are thus crucial in countering broader trends of declining engagement, and nonprofit organizations provide extra-familial social contexts that can foster benevolence. Data are from youth philanthropy programs currently hosted within 13 community organizations located in seven US states: Illinois, Wisconsin, New York, Connecticut, Texas, Nebraska, West Virginia. Youth participate for two years as juniors and seniors in high school, and the outcome data are collected annually upon youth graduating from the program at the end of the second year. This paper is based on youth surveys collected to date (n=180). The goal of the current study is to assess answers to this research question: Are there religious influences in youth philanthropy outcomes? To answer this question, this analysis focuses on whether and how youth outcomes vary across religious characteristics. Results indicate that more frequent religious service attendance is related to greater youth social trust. Implications are offered for youth programming and for studies of youth religiosity and civic engagement.

Author

• Patricia Snell Herzog, Indiana University Indianapolis