This Article Résumé Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Strømsnes, K. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The Importance of Church Attendance and Membership of Religious Voluntary Organizations for the Formation of Social Capital

Department of Comparative Politics, Christiesgt. 15, N-5007 Bergen, Norway, kristin.stromsnes{at}isp.uib.no

The author discusses whether church attendance and membership of religious voluntary organizations contribute to establishing social capital in society, and if so, whether faith, membership, or the level of active involvement is the key factor. She analyses what bearing religious involvement has on a citizen's political involvement, and to what extent religious involvement helps to build social trust and tolerance of other groups in society. Data used is from the 2001 Norwegian Citizenship Survey. The study shows that religious involvement is positively associated with political engagement, social trust and tolerance. It also emerges, after controlling for other background variables, that membership of religious voluntary organizations has no effect on social trust and tolerance of other groups in society.

Key Words: church attendance • Norway • political engagement • social capital • voluntary religious organizations

Social Compass, Vol. 55, No. 4, 478-496 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0037768608097234


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?