SPIRITUAL CAPITAL AND THE “GOOD LIFE”

Abstract

The association among values, norms, roles and social structures is one of the major cornerstones of sociology. Since the publication of Bellah and company's Habits of the Heart (1996), more attention has been directed toward moral sociology while Putnam's Bowling Alone (2000) has stimulated discussions about social networks and social capital. This article meshes these areas while adding spiritual capital to the mix. This study draws heavily upon the classical work of W.E.B. Du Bois (Du Bois and Dill 1914) on morals, manners, and social uplift, the more contemporary work of Stark (2004) and Greeley (1989) on the perception of the supernatural and social behavior as well as Brewer's (1979) and Koenig's (1997 2002 2005) work on spiritual well-being and everyday life.

Notes

∗p < 0.05

∗∗p < 0.01.

^a Percent of the population attending church once a month or more.

^b Percent who pray at least sometimes.

^c Percent who say that God is important in their lives.

^d Each indicator is based on the percent of the population agreeing.

^e Percent who would not want persons of another race as neighbors.

^f Gender Empowerment Score.

^g Suicides per 100,000 population.

^h Daily consumption (doses) of narcotic drugs per 1,000,000.

Source: Nations of the Globe data set (Barkan 2003).

An earlier version of the article was presented at the 2005 Mid-South Sociological Association annual meeting.