RT Article
T1 Transcendent Accountability and Pro-Community Attitudes: Assessing the Link Between Religion and Community Engagement
JF Review of religious research
VO 65
IS 1
SP 91
OP 120
A1 Jang, Sung Joon
A1 Bradshaw, Matt
A1 Witvliet, Charlotte C. van Oyen
A1 Kim, Young-Il
A1 Johnson, Byron R. 1955-
A1 Leman, Joseph
A2 Bradshaw, Matt
A2 Witvliet, Charlotte C. van Oyen
A2 Kim, Young-Il
A2 Johnson, Byron R. 1955-
A2 Leman, Joseph
LA English
YR 2023
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1920719199
AB Prior research has established a positive relationship between religiosity and civic engagement but focused on public religiosity rather than private religiosity without explaining the relationship. We examined private religiosity as well as public religiosity in relation to community engagement, explaining the religiosity-community engagement relationship with two understudied mechanisms: “transcendent accountability” (seeing oneself as accountable to God or a higher power for one's influence on other people or the environment) and pro-community attitudes. For this examination, we applied structural equation modeling to analyze data from a nationally representative survey. We found that survey respondents who believed in a higher power, privately practiced devotional prayer and study of religious texts, and attended religious group activities (other than worship services), were more likely to report transcendent accountability to a higher power for their influence on other people and the environment. We also found that transcendent accountability was related positively to pro-community attitudes, which in turn was positively associated with community engagement. The indirect relationships between religiosity and community engagement were mostly significant. In conclusion, both private and public religious behaviors are consequential in the religiosity-civic engagement relationship, and the religiosity-linked virtue of transcendent accountability and its associated pro-community attitudes contribute to civic engagement.
K1 Civic Engagement
K1 private religiosity
K1 pro-community attitudes
K1 public religiosity
K1 transcendent accountability
DO 10.1177/0034673X231172987