Aya Aoun Sociology Capstone: The Relationship between Worship Attendance and Racial Attitudes

INTRODUCTION This study investigates the impact of worship attendance on racial stereotypical attitudes Americans are very religious Roughly 7 in 10 Americans report attending worship services at least once a year There is reason to believe that worship going may associate with more or less racially stereotypical attitudes Religion informs ideas about morality and ethics and how we should treat others. It also informs ideas about the “other” Roughly a third of worship going Americans report hearing sermons about improving race relations The most vocal and active religious groups on race relations tend to embrace racial justice

Hypothesis The more one attends worship service, the less racially stereotypical one is

Sample: 2004 National Politics Study Geographic Coverage: United States Time period: September 3, 2004- February 5, 2005 Mode of Data Collection: Randomized Telephone Interviews Sample Size:3,339 participants Overall Response Rate: ~31%

Table 1: Association between Worship Attendance and Racial Stereotypical Attitudes: Logit Regression Blacks aren’t Hardworking Hispanics aren’t Hardworking Worship Attendance -.123* .330 Black -.345** -.269** Asian .23* .100 Hispanic .333 -.192** Caribbean -.091* -.291** South .561 .121** College -.332** .003 Female -.109** .130 N= 3,339 *<.05, **<.01

Main Findings The more one attends worship services the less likely one is to believe negative stereotypes about Blacks. At the Multivariate Level, worship attendance is unrelated to racial stereotypes of Hispanics