Research On Religion » social capital

Anselm Rink on Missionaries and Political Authority

tonygill — Sun, 04 Mar 2018 09:00:22 +0000

Missionaries can often convert people to another faith, but do their efforts have other effects? Prof. Anselm Rink, a junior professor of political economy at the University of Konstanz (Germany), joins us to discuss an interesting survey and field experiment conducted in Peru to understand the effects missionizing may have on citizen attitudes towards political authority. We begin the conversation with a bit of Prof. Rink’s background and how he ended up studying Protestants in the Peruvian highlands, and he notes that it was part-and-parcel of his Peace Corps experience in Ecuador. We then dive into his study by defining what “political authority” is. Anselm notes that definitions vary quite a bit, but he focuses his attention on two dimensions borrowed from Max Weber — obedience and persuasion. He covers some of the different perspectives on how social scientists have understood these concepts, including a brief mention of the famous Milgram study.

Prof. Rink then lays out his theoretical expectations on why missionaries should have any impact on the dimensions of political authority. As far as obedience goes, it is possible that there are theological reasons a missionary (or other religious leader) would enhance acceptance of authority in that followers are asked to adopt an authority figure. There is also the possibility that there is a habitual mechanism that enforces obedience through generalized rituals. With respect to persuasion, Anselm notes that exposure to new religious ideas could create an intellectual substitution effect wherein people see things differently, or be affected by cognitive dissonance wherein messages from a religious authority may undermine a political message. Prof. Rink then lays out the religious landscape of Peru, pointing out the growth of Protestantism of the Pentecostal and indigenous varieties. When Tony asks whether messages from Catholic priests would have an effect on the dimensions of political authority, Anselm responds that this is possible but he focused his research efforts on Protestant missionaries because they tend to have a more “otherworldly” dimension to their spiritual message and that his theoretical expectations would be that the effects of new religious messages would be more pronounced with stricter denominations.

The conversation then gets scientific as we go over Prof. Rink’s research design, talking about the 16 villages that he chose and how this helped to enhance his field experiment design. Within these villages, there were Adventists, Maranatha Christians, Peruana (indigenous), and churches that had mixed elements of some or all of these. We go through the qualitative interviews he conducted with missionaries and the surveys he administered to local citizens that included an experiment about giving up coins based upon the roll of dice. His findings from this work were rather interesting. It turns out that while Protestant missionaries tended to make their followers more obedient, they actually were less susceptible to persuasion. As such, the effects of missionaries run in somewhat contradictory directions.

We finish off the interview with a discussion of his work on religious radicalization in Kenya with his co-author Kunaal Sharma. Instead of focusing on macro-political and economic explanations (such as economic crisis) for conversion to radical religious movements (both Christian and Muslim), they have been investigating the micro-level foundations for why individuals in a community setting would sign up with radicalized groups. Anselm’s work in both Latin America, Africa, and Europe allows Tony to prompt him about his reflections on his own research. Anselm noted that the similarities among humans in different contexts should be seen as important and has some further views on altruistic behavior. Recorded: February 19, 2018.

Please note: Due to an international Skype connection, the audio of Prof. Rink is a bit compressed and muted. Nonetheless, the intellectual content is superb.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Anselm Rink’s personal webpage and the Department of Politics at University of Konstanz.

“Do Protestant Missionaries Undermine Political Authority? Evidence from Peru,” by Anselm Rink in Comparative Political Studies. (subscription required)

“The Determinants of Religious Radicalization,” by Anselm Rink and Kunaal Sharma in Journal of Conflict Resolution. (subscription required)

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Robert Woodberry on Missionaries and Democracy.

Christopher Hale on Religion and Protest in Mexico.

Ruth Melkonian on Latin American Protestants.

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Proselytism, Humanitarianism, and Development: A Panel Discussion.

Religious Freedom and Political Flourishing: A Panel Discussion.

Kevin Den Dulk on Religion, Education, and Civic Engagement.

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Alison Pond on Being a Mormon Missionary.

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Markus Schafer on Religion, Doing Good, Networks, & Triadic Closure

tonygill — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 08:00:16 +0000

How connected to other people are religious traditionalists and evangelical Christians? Contrary to the popular image that “holy rollers” are rather insular in their social dealings, Dr. Markus Schafer (Sociology, University of Toronto) shares the results of a number of studies he conducted on how linked in religious and non-religious folks are to their broader communities. Interestingly, he finds that religious traditionalists are more broadly networked than many social scientists might think, and that these connections also lead them to be more helpful in offering emotional support and personal advice to people who aren’t even religious. After a bit of discussion about how Markus came to this line of research (along with his interest in old people), Prof. Schafer elaborates on the burgeoning field of network theory and analysis. He then defines what religious traditionalists and pro-social behaviors are, further detailing how he used the Portrait of American Life Survey (PALS) to leverage this dataset in creative ways to answer some new questions. One of the more interesting findings of Prof. Schafer is how many individuals are closely linked (four closest friends) to an individual considered a religious traditionalist; roughly 60% (give or take a few percentage points) have a someone we consider to be religiously traditional within our tight network, despite such individuals being a rather small proportion of the US population as a whole. Moreover, Prof. Schafer discovers that traditionalist exhibit higher odds of offering people emotional support and personal advice, including to individuals who are not traditionalists themselves. This indicates that those religious folks are not as insular as they are often stereotyped. We discuss some of the reasons why this may be, and some possible methodological biases within the data. Dr. Schafer’s next study looks at how individuals connect their various friends, something sociologists call “triadic closure.” What this means is if Bob has a friendship with Ann and Carol, but Ann and Carol don’t know one another, triadic closure would mean that Ann and Carol do become friends thanks to Bob. (Thanks, Bob!) This is the stuff of “dense networks” and help to build close-knit communities. And again, the evidence points towards religious individuals — most specifically evangelical Christians — being very good at creating and closing these triangles, indicating that they are not as insular and “church-centric” as one might expect. It is also noted that rural folks also score high on triadic closure. Both Tony and Markus toss around some explanations for why evangelicals might be particularly good triadic closure, and we talk about the missionizing nature of evangelicals and how things like “small groups” often try to connect different people on secular interests such as horseback riding and other things. We conclude briefly with one final study Markus conducted. In this study, again making use of the PALS data, we find out that intercessory prayers have a positive impact on the optimism of the recipient of the prayers. This fits in with the network nature of much of Prof. Schafer’s work in that it gives yet another perspective on how people connect with one another in ways that have beneficial outcomes. Recorded: March 7, 2017.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Markus Schafer’s bio at the Dept. of Sociology, University of Toronto. (View his c.v. for his many writings.)

The Portraits of American Life Study at The Association of Religion Data Archives.

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Rod Stark on How Religion Benefits Everyone, Including Atheists.

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William Reimer on Religion & Violence in Toronto

tonygill — Sun, 02 Oct 2016 08:00:05 +0000

Historians and sociologists have long been puzzled by the falling rates of interpersonal violence over the course of the past few centuries. Despite a few upticks at localized moments, murder rates have been falling in urban areas contrary what one might expect. William (Bill) Reimer, author of Revisiting “Toronto the Good”: Violence, Religion and Culture in a Late Victorian City, looks at this phenomenon at the micro-level via an exploration of a Canadian “city of churches” in the late 1800s. His theory builds upon the work of a number of scholars such as Ted Gurr, Norbert Elias, and Manuel Eisner to fill in some of the larger macro-sociological theories that have been floated to explain this phenomenon. Bill explains how the growing social and political influence of British Evangelical Protestantism, most notably Methodists and Baptists, altered the “rough and tumble” nature of an industrializing city by emphasizing themes of “true manliness,” the importance of marriage, temperance, and empathy for prisoners (particularly those on death row). We discuss how Bill came to study this topic, oddly enough involving a visit to a “slam poetry” contest, and how his own Canadian roots influenced his area of study. Bill covers some of the more colorful characters of the era, including William Howland – a pastor turned politician who implemented a strong reformist agenda as mayor of Toronto in the 1880s and who also “put his money where his mouth was” by promoting a number of civic organizations that helped to alleviate various social problems. We also chat about how the concern of evangelical Christians about the mistreatment of Jews in Europe helped shape the “roots of the peaceful Canadian.” Bill offers some of his thoughts as to how his historical study may influence our understanding of our contemporary period and ends on an optimistic note about a religious barista who helps with a local struggling family in Vancouver. Recorded: September 27, 2016.

RELATED LINKS

Regent College Bookstore (in Vancouver, Canada).

Revisiting “Toronto the Good”: Violence, Religion and Culture in a Late-Victorian City, by William D. Reimer.

Methodism: Empire of the Spirit, by David Hempton (mentioned in podcast).

Hillbilly Elegy, by J.D. Vance (mentioned in podcast).

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Byron Johnson on More God, Less Crime.

Byron Johnson on Religion and Delinquency.

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Andrew Johnson on Pentecostals in Prison in Brazil.

Jeff Henig on Prison Ministry.

Owen Strachan on Chuck Colson.

Jay Hein on the Quiet Revolution of Social Work.

David Dixon on Religious Rhetoric and the Civil Rights Movement.

Sung Joon Jang on the Boy Scouts of America (Encore Presentation)

tonygill — Sun, 17 Jul 2016 08:00:31 +0000

While Tony and his son, a recently minted Eagle Scout, are at Philmont Scout Ranch on a high adventure trek, please enjoy this encore presentation from 2012. We will return on July 24 with crescent fresh episodes.

“On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty, to God and my country….” And so begins the Oath of the Boy Scouts of America, an organization now over a century old and the largest youth organization in America. It is also an organization with a global reach. To what extent are the ideals of the Boy Scouts upheld by their members, particularly into their adult years? Prof. Sung Joon Jang, research professor of criminology at Baylor University and a faculty fellow at Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, joins us to discuss the most extensive sociological study of the Boy Scouts to date. Commissioned by the Boy Scouts and funded by the John Templeton Foundation, Prof. Jang along with his colleagues Byron Johnson and Young-Il Kim surveyed over 2,500 adults to see whether belonging to the Boy Scouts had any affect on their adult behavior and character. Their particular focus was to see whether or not becoming an Eagle Scout, the BSA’s highest award, resulted in prosocial behavior in adulthood. After discussing what it takes to become and Eagle Scout, and the methodology involved in the study, Prof. Jang discusses the results of his survey in a variety of categories including exercise & recreation, social capital, environmental stewardship, community service, goal orientation, and leadership. The study largely confirms that becoming an Eagle Scout leads to very positive outcomes later in life. Nonetheless, there are some surprising results along the way, including interesting comparisons with Boy Scouts who never made the rank of Eagle. Throughout the interview, Tony reflects upon his time in the Boy Scouts. While never achieving Eagle, Tony did work at a BSA summer camp and was active in Order of the Arrow, the BSA’s honor society. After our discussion with Prof. Jang, Tony visits with an old friend he knew back in his Scouting days, Gene Sjoberg. Gene provides colorful detail about his Eagle experience and how it has affected his life, shares a few laughs with Tony, and leaves us with perhaps the most powerful and inspiring moment in this podcast’s history. Wise advice from an outstanding citizen. Recorded: May 3, 2012.

Eagle Scouts: Merit Beyond the Badge, by Sung Joon Jang, Byron Johnson, and Young-Il Kim.

Camp Long Lake, BSA (the camp Tony and Gene worked at located in Dundee, WI).

Philmont Scout Ranch.

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Byron Johnson on Religion & Delinquency.

Rod Stark on How Religion Benefits Everybody (Including Atheists) .

Theodore Malloch on Spiritual Capital & Virtuous Business

tonygill — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 09:00:34 +0000

In the light of recent business scandals involving the likes of Enron, Tyco, and Bernie Madoff, Research on Religion turns attention to the role that spiritual capital can play in America’s free enterprise system. Dr. Theodore Malloch, a research professor at Yale University’s Center for Faith & Culture and CEO of The Global Fiduciary Governance LLC, joins us to discuss his most recent book on that topic aptly titled, America’s Spiritual Capital. We begin with a bit of chat regarding the annual Davos meeting of important political and business leaders as Ted has served on the board of the World Economic Forum and has some insights into that high profile, albeit sometimes secretive, gathering. We then dive into the world of spiritual capital, definining it is relation to the other types of capital that economists often talk about. This moves us into a discussion about America’s “modernity project” and how the United States was able to produce such phenomenal technological growth over the past two hundred years. Ted links innovation, economic freedom, political freedom, and limited government to a responsible use of freedom that rests upon a Judeo-Christian foundation. He makes an excellent point that economists often forget about the cultural underpinnings of a free society. He spells out a number of cultural traits that differentiate our modern times from the feudal era, with a focus on personal autonomy among other things. This personal autonomy helps to provide the eventual cultural milieu that leads to the demise of slavery and the rise of entrepreneurship. Our conversation also weaves its way through the tension between fostering liberty and promoting equality, with Dr. Malloch having some interesting points to make with respect to that debate. We then move on to a discussion of virtue in the business world with Ted explaining the difference between hard and soft virtues. He uses several examples of businesses that illustrate one or another of these virtues, and our talk focuses extensively on the issue of humility, which is one of the virtues Ted believes is most important to successful leadership and one that may be slipping away in our culture. This portion of the interview also includes some thoughts on the role of “individualism” and Ted’s thoughts on Ayn Rand. We conclude with some reflections on where America’s spiritual capital and business environment is heading in the next few decades. Recorded: January 4, 2013.

RELATED LINKS

Theodore Malloch’s biography at his personal website.

Spiritual Capital Initiative at the Yale Center for Faith & Culture.

America’s Spiritual Capital, by Nicholas Capaldi and Theodore Roosevelt Malloch.

Doing Spiritual Business: The Remarkable Success of Spiritual Enterprise, by Theodore Roosevelt Malloch.

The End of Ethics and a Way Back: How to Fix a Fundamentally Broken Financial System, by Theodore Roosevelt Malloch and Jordan Mamorsky.

Renewing American Culture: The Pursuit of Happiness, by Theodore Roosevelt Malloch and Scott T. Massey.

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Art Carden on Christian Ethics, Charity, and Economics.

Robert Sirico on Markets, Morality, Faith, and Freedom.

Sung Joon Jang on the Boy Scouts of America

tonygill — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:00:08 +0000

Welcome to our Scouting visitors. If you are new to this site, please visit our extensive archives (of over 100 episodes) that are free and make useful teaching tools. And join us on Facebook to stay abreast of upcoming interviews and other news.

“On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty, to God and my country….” And so begins the Oath of the Boy Scouts of America, an organization now over a century old and the largest youth organization in America. It is also an organization with a global reach. To what extent are the ideals of the Boy Scouts upheld by their members, particularly into their adult years? Prof. Sung Joon Jang, an associate professor of sociology at Baylor University and a faculty fellow at Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, joins us to discuss the most extensive sociological study of the Boy Scouts to date. Commissioned by the Boy Scouts and funded by the John Templeton Foundation, Prof. Jang along with his colleagues Byron Johnson and Young-Il Kim surveyed over 2,500 adults to see whether belonging to the Boy Scouts had any affect on their adult behavior and character. Their particular focus was to see whether or not becoming an Eagle Scout, the BSA’s highest award, resulted in prosocial behavior in adulthood. After discussing what it takes to become and Eagle Scout, and the methodology involved in the study, Prof. Jang discusses the results of his survey in a variety of categories including exercise & recreation, social capital, environmental stewardship, community service, goal orientation, and leadership. The study largely confirms that becoming an Eagle Scout leads to very positive outcomes later in life. Nonetheless, there are some surprising results along the way, including interesting comparisons with Boy Scouts who never made the rank of Eagle. Throughout the interview, Tony reflects upon his time in the Boy Scouts. While never achieving Eagle, Tony did work at a BSA summer camp and was active in Order of the Arrow, the BSA’s honor society. After our discussion with Prof. Jang, Tony visits with an old friend he knew back in his Scouting days, Gene Sjoberg. Gene provides colorful detail about his Eagle experience and how it has affected his life, shares a few laughs with Tony, and leaves us with perhaps the most powerful and inspiring moment in this podcast’s two-year history. Wise advice from an outstanding citizen. Recorded: May 3, 2012

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Sung Joon Jang’s biography at Baylor University’s Department of Sociology.

Eagle Scouts: Merit Beyond the Badge, by Sung Joon Jang, Byron Johnson, and Young-Il Kim. This link includes free access to the report discussed in today’s podcast.

Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion.

Camp Long Lake, BSA (the camp Tony and Gene worked at located in Dundee, WI).

RELATED PODCASTS

Byron Johnson on Religion & Delinquency.

Joseph Daniels on Religion and Trust

tonygill — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 09:00:47 +0000

Does religion and religious practice enhance trust of others? Joseph Daniels — professor of economics at Marquette University and director of the Center for Global and Economic Studies — joins Tony to chat about the importance of social trust for society and the economy based on research he conducted with previous podcast guest Marc von der Ruhr. We cover what trust is and two types of trust — “bonding (strong-tie) trust” and “bridging (weak-tie) trust.” We examine various individual characteristics leading to the development of trust and explore three different theories of how trust is formed at the social level, including voluntary association theory, social network theory, and community theory. We then explore their research findings showing that people who attend church more often are more likely to exhibit trust in others. Interestingly, though, Prof. Daniels research indicates a denominational effect wherein people affiliated with fundamentalist or conservative denominations are less trusting than those in liberal Protestant denominations. This effect does not wash out the strong positive effect that religious attendance plays in enhancing trust, but it does temper the effect. We also discuss where Catholics fit into this pattern and how social trust has declined over time. We finish the podcast by talking about how this willingness to trust (or not) factors into attitudes towards free trade and immigration. Tony also reveals his pick for Super Bowl XLV, which will have been broadcast prior to the airing of this podcast. Recorded: January 24, 2011.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Joe Daniels’s website at Marquette University.

Marquette University’s Center for Global and Economic Studies.

Joseph Daniels interview with Robert Putnam, author of American Grace, at Marquette University (2010).

RELATED PODCASTS

Marc von der Ruhr on Megachurch Recruitment and Retention.

Michael McBride on Religious Free-Riding and the Mormon Church.