Race, religious identities, and environmental activism

Abstract

We employ three national representative samples to examine the moderating effect race has on the relationship between religious identities and environmental identities and behaviors. By and large, religious identities are more consistently associated with the environmental considerations of Whites than it does for African Americans and Hispanics. Among Whites, religious liberals are more likely than their religiously conservative counterparts to; identify with the environmental movement, make environmentally conscious consumer choices, and be active in the environmental movement. Such is not the case, however, for African Americans and Hispanics: religion very rarely associates with their environmental identities and behaviors. In explaining our findings, we discuss the role that the disparate racial experiences of these groups may play in accounting for the differential role religion plays in their environmental identities and behaviors.

Keywords:

• Race
• religion
• environment

Notes

1 See Appendix A for detailed information on each sample and measures.

2 The 2006 Religion and Public Life Survey does not have large enough Black and Hispanic sample sizes to permit multivariate analyses among these groups.