I challenge the scholarly contention that increases in education uniformly lead to declines in religious participation, belief, and affiliation. I argue that education influences strategies of action, and these strategies of action are relevant to some religious beliefs and activities but not others. Analysis of survey data shows that (1) education negatively affects exclusivist religious viewpoints and biblical literalism but not belief in God or the afterlife; (2) education positively affects religious participation, devotional activities, and emphasizing the importance of religion in daily life; (3) education positively affects switching religious affiliations, particularly to a mainline Protestant denomination, but not disaffiliation; (4) education is positively associated with questioning the role of religion in secular society but not with support for curbing the public opinions of religious leaders; and (5) the effects of education on religious beliefs and participation vary across religious traditions. Education does influence Americans’ religious beliefs and activities, but the effects of education on religion are complex.
American Association for Public Opinion ResearchStandard definitions: Final dispositions of case codes and outcome rates for surveys20085Lenexa, KSAAPOR
2.
ArnettJeffrey JensenJensenLene ArnettA congregation of one: Individualized religious beliefs among emerging adultsJournal of Adolescent Research200217451–467
3.
BalswickJackWardDawn McNCarlsonDavid ETheological and socio-political belief change among religiously conservative studentsReview of Religious Research19751761–67
4.
BeckfordJames AHammondPhillip EReligious organizationsThe sacred in a secular age: Toward revision in the scientific study of religion1985Berkeley, CAUniversity of California Press125–138
5.
BeckwithBurnham PThe decline of U.S. religious faith, 1912–19841985Palo Alto, CAB.P. Beckwith
6.
BeyerleinKraigSpecifying the impact of conservative Protestantism on educational attainmentJournal for the Scientific Study of Religion200443505–518
7.
CampbellRobert AStudents’ views on the relationship between religion and science: Analyses of results from a comparative studyCanadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology200542249–265
8.
CasanovaJoséPublic religions in the modern world1994Chicago, ILUniversity of Chicago Press
9.
ChavesMarkSecularization as declining religious authoritySocial Forces199472749–774
10.
CherryConradDeBergBetty APorterfieldAmandaReligion on campus2001Chapel Hill, NCUniversity of North Carolina Press
11.
CitrinJackReingoldBethGreenDonald PAmerican identity and the politics of ethnic changeThe Journal of Politics1990521124–1154
12.
ClydesdaleTimThe first year out: Understanding American teens after high school2007Chicago, ILUniversity of Chicago Press
ComteAugusteA general view of positivism1865LondonTrübner and Co
15.
Davis, James Allan, Tom W. Smith, and Peter V. Marsden. 2000. General social survey 1998. (UNITED STATES) (computer file). Chicago, IL: National Opinion Research Center (produce); Storrs, CT: The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut (distributer).
16.
DemerathNJIIISocial class in American Protestantism1965ChicagoRand McNally & Company
17.
DiMaggioPaulCulture and cognitionAmerican Sociological Review199723263–287
18.
DjupePaul AGilbertChristopher PThe resourceful believer: Generating civic skills in churchJournal of Politics200668116–127
19.
Durkheim, Emile. [1915]1965. The elementary forms of the religious life. New York: The Free Press.
20.
EcklundElaine HowardParkJerry ZConflict between religion and science among academic scientists?Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion200948276–292
21.
EcklundElaine HowardScheitleChristopherReligion among academic scientists: distinctions, disciplines, and demographicsSocial Problems200754289–307
22.
Evans, John H. 2009. Religious opposition to science. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, October 23–25, Denver, CO.
23.
FeldmanKenneth AChange and stability of religious orientations during college: Part I. Freshman-senior comparisonsReview of Religious Research19691140–60
24.
FinneyJohn MA theory of religious commitmentSociological Analysis19783919–35
25.
FinneyJohn MLeeGary RAge differences on five dimensions of religious involvementReview of Religious Research197718173–179
26.
FischerClaude STo dwell among friends1982ChicagoUniversity of Chicago Press
27.
FoxWilliam SPayneDavid EPriestThomas BPhilliberWilliam WAuthority position, legitimacy of authority structure, and acquiescence to authoritySocial Forces197755966–973
28.
FukuyamaYoshioThe major dimensions of church membershipReview of Religious Research19612154–161
29.
GeertzCliffordThe interpretation of cultures1973New YorkBasic Books
30.
GoodeErichSocial class and church participationAmerican Journal of Sociology196672102–111
31.
GouldStephen JayRocks of ages: Science and religion in the fullness of life1999New YorkThe Ballantine Publishing Group
32.
GreeleyAndrew MHoutMichaelAmericans’ increasing belief in life after death: Religious competition and acculturationAmerican Sociological Review199964813–835
33.
HadawayC KirkMarlerPenny LongHow many Americans attend worship each week? An alternative approach to measurementJournal for the Scientific Study of Religion200544307–322
34.
Haider-Markel, Donald P., and Mark R. Joslyn. 2008. Pulpits versus ivory towers: Socializing agents and evolution attitudes. Social Science Quarterly 89: 665–683.
35.
HallRobertRodeghierMarkUseemBertEffects of education on attitude to protestAmerican Sociological Review198651564–573
36.
HammondPhillip EHunterJames DavidsonOn maintaining plausibility: The worldview of evangelical college studentsJournal for the Scientific Study of Religion198423221–238
37.
HerbergWillProtestant, Catholic, Jew: An essay in American religious sociology1955New YorkDoubleday
38.
HerbertDavidReligion and civil society: Rethinking public religion in the contemporary world2003HampshireAshgate
39.
HoutMichaelFischerClaude SWhy more Americans have no religious preference: Politics and generationsAmerican Sociological Review200267165–190
40.
JohnsonDaniel CarsonFormal education vs. religious belief: Soliciting new evidence with multinomial logit modelingJournal for the Scientific Study of Religion199736231–246
41.
LawtonLeora EBuresReginaParental divorce and the “switching” of religious identityJournal for the Scientific Study of Religion20014099–111
42.
LeeJenny LReligion and college attendance: Change among studentsThe Review of Higher Education200225369–384
43.
MadsenGary EVernonGlenn MMaintaining the faith during college: A study of campus religious group participationReview of Religious Research198325127–141
44.
MarsdenPeterCore discussion networks of AmericansAmerican Sociological Review198752122–131
45.
MayrlDamonOeurFreedenReligion and higher education: Current knowledge and directions for future researchJournal for the Scientific Study of Religion200948260–275
46.
MeierRobert FPerspectives on the concept of social controlAnnual Review of Sociology1982835–55
MillerSamuel HSizerTheodore ROppositions between religion and educationReligion and public education1967Boston, MAHoughton Mifflin112–124
49.
MoiseyenkoOlenaEducation and social cohesion: Higher educationPeabody Journal of Education20058089–104
50.
NealMarie AugustaPart I. The relation between religious belief and structural change in religious orders: Developing an effective measuring instrumentReview of Religious Research1970122–16
51.
NiebuhrH RichardThe social sources of denominationalism1929Gloucester, MAPeter Smith
52.
PolomaMargaret MThe assemblies of god at the crossroads: Charisma and institutional dilemmas1989Knoxville, TNUniversity of Tennessee Press
53.
PutnamRobert DBowling alone: America's declining social capitalCurrent19953733–9
54.
RegnerusMarkSmithChristianSelective deprivatization among American religious traditions: The reversal of the great reversalSocial Forces1998761347–1372
55.
RoofWade ClarkTraditional religion in contemporary society: A theory of local-cosmopolitan plausibilityAmerican Sociological Review197641195–208
56.
RoofWade ClarkMultiple religious switching: A research noteJournal for the Scientific Study of Religion198928530–535
57.
RoofWade ClarkMcKinneyWilliamAmerican mainline religion1987New Brunswick, NJRutgers University Press
58.
RoozenDavid ACarrollJackson WRoofWade ClarkRoofWade ClarkCarrollJackson WRoozenDavid AFifty years of religious change in the United StatesThe post-war generation establishment religion: Cross-cultural perspectives1995Boulder, COWestview Press59–85
59.
SchwadelPhilipTesting the promise of the churches: income inequality in the opportunity to learn civic skills in churchJournal for the Scientific Study of Religion200241563–573
60.
SchwadelPhilipEducation and churchgoing Protestants’ views of highly politicized ChristianityReview of Religious Research200547150–161
61.
Schwadel, Philip. 2009. Neighbors in the pews: Social status diversity in religious congregations. Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion 5 (article 2): 1–24. http://www.religjournal.com.
62.
SmithChristianAmerican evangelicalism: Embattled and thriving1998Chicago, ILUniversity of Chicago Press
63.
StarkRodneySecularization R.I.PSociology of Religion199960249–273
64.
StarkRodneyFinkeRogerActs of faith: Explaining the human side of religion2000Berkeley, CAUniversity of California Press
65.
SteenslandBrianParkJerry ZRegnerusMark DRobinsonLynn DWilcoxW BradfordWoodberryRobert DThe measure of American religion: Improving the state of the artSocial Forces200079291–318
66.
StevensMitchell LCulture and educationThe ANNALS of the Americans Academy of Political and Social Science200861997–113
67.
SwatosWilliam HChristianoKevin JSecularization theory: The course of a conceptSociology of Religion199960209–228
68.
SwidlerAnnCulture in action: Symbols and strategiesAmerican Sociological Review198651273–286
69.
TiryakianEdwardAmerican exceptionalism: A reconsiderationAnnals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science199352740–54
70.
TrinitapoliJenny‘I know this isn't PC, but…’: Religious exclusivism among U.S. adolescentsThe Sociological Quarterly200748451–483
71.
UeckerJeremy ERegnerusMark DVaalerMargaret LLosing my religion: The social sources of religious decline in early adulthoodSocial Forces2007851667–1692
72.
VaiseyStephenSocrates, Skinner, and Aristotle: Three ways of thinking about culture in actionSociological Forum200823603–613
73.
VerbaSidneySchlozmanKay LehmanBradyHenry EVoice and equality: Civic voluntarism in American politics1995Cambridge, MAHarvard University Press
74.
WarnerStephen RWork in progress toward a new paradigm for the sociological study of religion in the United StatesAmerican Journal of Sociology1993981044–1093
75.
Weber, Max. [1922]1993. The sociology of religion. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
76.
WhittHugh PNelsenHartResidence, moral traditionalism, and tolerance of atheistsSocial Forces197554328–340
77.
WilsonBryanReligion in sociological perspective1982New YorkOxford University Press
78.
WuthnowRobertThe restructuring of American religion: Society and faith since World War II1988Princeton, NJPrinceton University Press
