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Abstract
This study examines the link between religious involvement and racial group identification among Hispanics in the United States. Relying on the multifaceted nature of religious involvement, this study focuses on five dimensions of religious involvement—church attendance, prayer, the importance one places on religion, one's belief in God's love, and religious affiliation. Using the data from the Panel Study of American Religion and Ethnicity (1st wave, 2006), this study employs regression analysis. The results show that, among the five dimensions of religious involvement, only church attendance has a significant effect on racial group identification; Hispanics who frequently attend church are more likely to identify with Hispanics. This study suggests that church attendance increases Hispanics’ group identification for two reasons: first, because of the formation of Hispanic-oriented churches; and second, because of the intense interaction among Hispanics within their church communities.
Notes
1 The figure comes from the report, “Changing Faiths: Latinos and the Transformation of American Religion,” which was published by the Pew Research Center in 2007.
2 “Regular” consists of respondents who attend churches more than once a month.
3 An anonymous reviewer suggested that perhaps the earliest advocate of the notion that religion and faith make one less nationalistic was the Apostle Paul, and his assertion can be found in Galatians 3:28: ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’
4 The target population for this survey is defined as the civilian, non-institutionalized population of the U.S. who are 18 years of age or older. Using the 2000 Census data cross-referenced with zip codes, the survey selected 60 primary sampling units (PSUs) to represent the diversity of the U.S. population. The response rate was 50%. Interviews were conducted in Spanish at the request of the respondent.
5 The Appendix I provides the exact wording of all questions used in this study.
6 The Cronbach alpha of the items comprising the racial identification index is 675. Also, they are positively related (r = .342, .302, .319, respectively, and all correlations are significant at the 1% level). Furthermore, we use a confirmatory factor analysis with the three questions. The results show that the three questions group together well and that one clear factor emerges. In addition, it should be noted that my study focuses only on the responses from the 520 Hispanics who were surveyed. I selected this subsample based on the question that asks “What is your race? (1 = White, 2 = Black, 3 = Hispanic, 4 = Asian, 5 = Pacific Islander, 6 = Native American, 7 = mixed race). That is, the subsample used for my study has only respondents who said that their “race” is Hispanic. Because of the careful selection of the subsample, all Hispanic respondents who answered these three questions should consider their race to be Hispanic (not White or not belonging to some national ethnic group). Thus, I believe that the questions measure Hispanics’ racial group identification.
7 The geographic information is not publicly available. Therefore, I used the question that asks respondents’ subjective estimates of the Hispanic populations in their neighborhoods. I believe that the use of this subjective estimate did not significantly affect the substantive results of the analysis.
8 The empirical analysis might suffer from an important omitted variable—the length of stay. The data used for the present study do not contain a question that asks how long a respondent has spent in the U.S. The citizenship and age variables may pick up some of the effect of the length of stay; however, it should be noted that the omission of the length of stay might be important.
9 This study does not disaggregate Hispanics by various national origins. Instead, I used a Mexican variable, composed of respondents from Mexico. This was done because there were not enough respondents from regions such as Dominica, Colombia, and Central America for meaningful analysis. More specifically, our sample contained 333 Mexicans, 52 Central Americans, 45 Puerto Ricans, 20 Cubans, 14 Dominicans, and 9 Colombians.
10 The effects of church attendance remain significant if the other variables of religious involvement are removed from the equation.
11 Scholars have argued that churches have preserved Hispanic culture and the Spanish language rather than eliminating them. In the church, Spanish is used to talk about life in the community, an elevated diction is employed, and traditional hymns are sung in Spanish (CitationStevens-Arroyo, 1998). These services forge a communitarian awareness of being Hispanic (CitationDíaz-Stevens, 1993). Thus, CitationStevens-Arroyo (1998) states that churches have operated not to Americanize, but to preserve Hispanic group identification.
12 Additionally, it should be emphasized that churches provide their members with economic benefits. New immigrants benefit from the economic community provided by their church; this can result in childcare, housing, employment, finding spouses, etc. Therefore, churches might offer economic motives for Hispanics attending church.
13 The survey, which included 3620 Hispanics, was conducted in 2007 by the Pew Research Center.
14 In terms of nativity, 84% of the foreign born and 57% of the native born, respectively, reported that they are part of mostly Hispanic congregations. The national origin composition of Hispanic-oriented churches are as follows; Mexican (38.9%), Puerto Rican (10.1%), Cuban (10.6%), Dominican (10.2%), Salvadoran (5.2%), other Central American (9.1%), other South American (13.2%), and other (2.7%). With respect to language, 61% of Hispanic Catholics who say they can carry on a conversation in English “pretty well” say they prefer to attend Mass in Spanish, which shows an attachment to the ethnic church that goes beyond linguistic necessity. Also, among respondents who live in areas where fewer than 15% of the residents are Hispanic, a large majority said that there is a Hispanic faith leader in their church (62%) and that Spanish services are available (77%). Lastly, in terms of religious traditions, 70% of Catholics, 62% of evangelicals, and nearly half of mainline Protestants said they attend churches that have Hispanic clergies, Spanish language services, and mostly Hispanic congregations.
15 The six questions asked if respondents’ churches provided help to church members in need (a) by providing food or clothing, (b) with finding a job, (c) with financial problems, (d) with finding a house or an apartment, (e) by taking care of their children, and (f) with language or literacy training. Hispanic churchgoers responded as follows: (a) 85%, (b) 62.1%, (c) 65.6%, (d) 53.4%, (e) 58.6%, and (f) 60.7%.
16 The question asks, “Typically, when you attend Mass/worship services, would you say that most of the other people in the Synagogue/Mosque/Church are Hispanic/Latinos, are some of them Hispanic/Latinos, or are only a few of them Hispanic/Latinos?” Those who answered “most” or “some” are considered as attending churches with high shares of Latino congregants, while those who answered “only a few” or “none” are regarded as attending churches with low shares of Latino congregants.
17 The question asks, “Thinking about the Synagogue/Mosque/Church you attend most often, are there any Hispanic/Latino rabbis/imams/priests/pastors there, or not?” (1 = yes, 2 = no).
18 The question used is, “If you wanted to attend a Mass/worship service in Spanish, is one available at the Synagogue/Mosque/Church you attend most often?” (1 = yes, 2 = no).
19 Some studies have examined the link between public/personal religious involvement and political activity or militancy (CitationMarx, 1969; CitationNelsen & Nelsen, 1975). They agree that personal religious involvement may be negatively related to political activity; however, there is less of a consensus on the effect of public religious involvement.