Is individual religiosity associated with the sense of control? If so, does a nation’s religious context modify that association? Multilevel analyses with data from the sixth wave of the World Values Survey (2010–2014) demonstrate that religious attendance and prayer are positively associated with the sense of control, net of individual- and country-level controls. However, belief in God is not associated with the sense of control. Furthermore, cross-level interactions suggest that the association between individual religiosity and the sense of control varies across national religious context. Specifically, religious attendance, prayer, and belief in God are more positively associated with the sense of control in countries with higher levels of religiosity than in countries with lower levels of religiosity. I discuss the theoretical implications of these findings for views about religion, sense of control, and the linkage between macro-level contexts and micro-level factors.
BergerPeter L.1967. The Sacred Canopy. New York: Doubleday.
5.
BoydKatharine A.ChungHyewon. 2012. “Opinions toward Suicide: Cross-national Evaluation of Cultural and Religious Effects on Individuals.”Social Science Research41(6):1565–80.
6.
BradshawMattEllisonChristopher G.MarcumJack P.2010. “Attachment to God, Images of God, and Psychological Distress in a Nationwide Sample of Presbyterians.”International Journal for the Psychology of Religion20:130–47.
7.
CooleyCharles H.1902. Human Nature and the Social Order. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
8.
CorcoranKatie E.PettinicchioDavidYoungJacob T. N.2011. “The Context of Control: A Cross-national Investigation of the Link between Political Institutions, Efficacy, and Collective Action.”British Journal of Social Psychology50(4):575–605.
9.
Debies-CarlJeffrey S.HugginsChristopher M.2009. “‘City Air Makes Free’: A Multi-level, Cross-national Analysis of Self-efficacy.”Social Psychology Quarterly72(4):343–64.
10.
DienerEdTayLouisMyersDavid G.2011. “The Religion Paradox: If Religion Makes People Happy, Why Are So Many Dropping Out?”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology101(6):1278–90.
11.
DowneyGeraldineMoenPhyllis. 1987. “Personal Efficacy, Income, and Family Transitions: A Longitudinal Study of Women Heading Households.”Journal of Health and Social Behavior28(3):320–33.
12.
DurkheimEmile. [1897] 1951. Suicide. New York: Free Press.
13.
EllisonChristopher G.1993. “Religious Involvement and Self-perception among Black Americans.”Social Forces71(4):1027–1055.
14.
EllisonChristopher G.BurdetteAmy M.2012. “Religion and the Sense of Control among U.S. Adults.”Sociology of Religion73(1):1–22.
15.
EllisonChristopher G.GeorgeLinda K.1994. “Religious Involvement, Social Ties, and Social Support in a Southeastern Community.”Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion33(1):46–61.
16.
FinkeRogerAdamczykAmy. 2008. “Cross-national Moral Beliefs: The Influence of National Religious Context.”The Sociological Quarterly49(4):617–52.
17.
FroesePaulBaderChristopher. 2010. America’s Four Gods: What We Say about God—and What That Says about Us. New York: Oxford University Press.
18.
FulmerC. AshleyGelfandMichele J.KruglanskiArie W.Kim-PrietoChuDienerEdPierroAntonioHigginsE. Tory. 2010. “On ‘Feeling Right’ in Cultural Contexts: How Person-culture Match Affects Self-esteem and Subjective Well-being.”Psychological Science21(11):1563–69.
19.
GadallaTahany. 2009. “Sense of Mastery, Social Support and Health in Elderly Canadians.”Journal of Aging and Health21(4):581–95.
20.
GecasViktor. 1989. “The Social Psychology of Self-efficacy.”Annual Review of Sociology15:291–316.
21.
GeisKarlyn J.RossCatherine E.1998. “A New Look at Urban Alienation: The Effect of Neighborhood Disorder on Perceived Powerlessness.”Social Psychology Quarterly61(3):232–46.
22.
GoodwinRobinAllenPeter. 2000. “Democracy and Fatalism in the Former Soviet Union.”Journal of Applied Social Psychology30(12):2558–74.
23.
HollanderEdwin P.1960. “Competence and Conformity in the Acceptance of Influence.”Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology61(3):365–69.
24.
HoxJoop. 2010. Multilevel Analysis: Techniques and Applications. New York: Routledge.
25.
HuijtsTimKraaykampGerbert. 2011. “Religious Involvement, Religious Context, and Self-assessed Health in Europe.”Journal of Health and Social Behavior52(1):91–106.
26.
InglehartRonaldNorrisPippa. 2003. Rising Tide: Gender Equality and Cultural Change around the World. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press.
27.
JungJong Hyun. 2015. “Sense of Divine Involvement and Sense of Meaning in Life: Religious Tradition as a Contingency.”Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion54(1):119–33.
28.
KirkpatrickLee A.2005. Attachment, Evolution, and the Psychology of Religion. New York: Guilford Press.
29.
KrauseNeal. 2005. “God-mediated Control and Psychological Well-being in Later Life.”Research on Aging27:125–40.
30.
KrauseNeal. 2011. “The Perceived Prayers of Others, Stress, and Change in Depressive Symptoms over Time.”Review of Religious Research53(3):341–56.
31.
KrauseNealVan TranThanh. 1989. “Stress and Religious Involvement among Older Blacks.”Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences44(1):S4–S13.
32.
KwonRoy. 2011. “How the Legacy of French Colonization Has Shaped Divergent Levels of Economic Development in East Asia: A Time-series Cross-national Analysis.”The Sociological Quarterly52(1):56–82.
33.
LaddKevinSpilkaBernard. 2002. “Inward, Outward, and Upward: Cognitive Aspects of Prayer.”Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion41(3):475–84.
LovelandMatthew T.SikkinkDavidMyersDaniel J.RadcliffBenjamin2005. “Private Prayer and Civic Involvement.”Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion44(1):1–14.
36.
MarshallMonty G.JaggersKeith. 2009. Polity IV Project: Political Regime Characteristics and Transitions, 1800–2007. Vienna, VA: Center for Systemic Peace.
37.
MarxKarl. [1844] 1963. Early Writings. New York: McGraw-Hill.
38.
McPhersonMillerSmith-LovinLynnCookJames M.2001. “Birds of a Feather: Homophily in Social Networks.”Annual Review of Sociology27:415–44.
39.
NorrisPippaInglehartRonald. 2004. Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press.
40.
PargamentKenneth I.1997. The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice. New York: Guilford Press.
41.
PearlinLeonard I.1999. “The Stress Process Revisited: Reflections on Concepts and Their Interrelationships.” Pp. 395–415 in Handbook of the Sociology of Mental Health, edited by AneshenselC. S.PhelanJ. C.New York: Plenum.
42.
PearlinLeonard I.SchoolerCarmi. 1978. “The Structure of Coping.”Journal of Health and Social Behavior19(1):2–21.
43.
PearlinLeonard I.MenaghanElizabeth G.LiebermanMorton A.MullanJoseph T.1981. “The Stress Process.”Journal of Health and Social Behavior22(4):337–56.
44.
PollnerMelvin. 1989. “Divine Relations, Social Relations, and Well-being.”Journal of Health and Social Behavior30(1):92–104.
45.
PutnamRobert D.CampbellDavid E.2010. American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us. New York: Simon & Schuster.
46.
RaudenbushStephen W.BrykAnthony S.2001. Hierarchical Linear Models: Applications and Data Analysis Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
47.
RegnerusMark D.2003. “Moral Communities and Adolescent Delinquency: Religious Contexts and Community Social Control.”The Sociological Quarterly44(4):523–54.
48.
RossCatherine E.MirowskyJohn. 1989. “Explaining the Social Patterns of Depression: Control and Problem Solving—or Support and Talking?”Journal of Health and Social Behavior30(2):206–19.
49.
RossCatherine E.MirowskyJohn. 2013. “The Sense of Control: Social Structural Causes and Emotional Consequences.” Pp. 379–502 in Handbook of the Sociology of Mental Health. 2nd ed., edited by AneshenselC.PhelanJ.BiermanA.New York: Springer.
50.
RotterJulian B.1966. “Generalized Expectancies for Internal vs. External Control of Reinforcements.”Psychological Monographs80:1–28.
51.
RubinDonald. 2004. Multiple Imputation for Nonresponse in Surveys. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
52.
SagivLilachSchwartzShalom H.2000. “Value Priorities and Subjective Well-being: Direct Relations and Congruity Effects.”European Journal of Social Psychology30(2):177–98.
53.
SchiemanScott. 2008. “The Religious Role and the Sense of Control.”Sociology of Religion69(3):273–96.
54.
SchiemanScottBiermanAlex. 2011. “The Role of Divine Beliefs in Stress Processes.” Pp. 45–68 in Toward a Sociological Theory of Religion and Health, edited by BlasiA. J.Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
55.
SchiemanScottBiermanAlexEllisonChristopher G.2010. “Religious Involvement, Beliefs about God, and the Sense of Mattering among Older Adults.”Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion49(3):517–35.
56.
SchiemanScottNguyenKimElliottDiana. 2003. “Religiosity, Socioeconomic Status, and the Sense of Mastery.”Social Psychology Quarterly66(3):202–21.
57.
SharpShane. 2010. “How Does Prayer Help Manage Emotions?”Social Psychology Quarterly73(4):417–37.
58.
ShawBenjaminKrauseNeal. 2001. “Exploring Race Variations in Aging and Personal Control.”Journal of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences56(2):S119–S124.
59.
SmallJenny L.BowmanNicholas A.2011. “Religious Commitment, Skepticism, and Struggle among U.S. College Students: The Impact of Majority/Minority Religious Affiliation and Institutional Type.”Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion50(1):154–74.
60.
SnoepLiesbeth. 2008. “Religiousness and Happiness in Three Nations: A Research Note.”Journal of Happiness Studies9(2):207–11.
61.
SoonsJudith P. M.KalmijnMatthijs. 2009. “Is Marriage More than Cohabitation? Well-being Differences in 30 European Countries.”Journal of Marriage and Family71(5):1141–57.
62.
StarkRodney. 1996. “Religion as Context: Hellfire and Delinquency One More Time.”Sociology of Religion57(2):163–73.
63.
StarkRodneyFinkeRoger. 2000. Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
64.
StarkRodneyGlockCharles. 1968. American Piety. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
65.
StavrovaOlgaFetchenhauerDetlefSchlösserThomas. 2013. “Why Are Religious People Happy? The Effect of the Social Norm of Religiosity across Countries.”Social Science Research42:90–105.
66.
TebbiCameron K.MallonJanis C.RichardsMary E.BiglerLewis R.1987. “Religiosity and Locus of Control of Adolescent Cancer Patients.”Psychological Reports61:683–96.
67.
VanHeuvelenTom. 2014. “The Religious Context of Welfare Attitudes.”Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion53(2):268–95.
68.
VerbaSidneySchlozmanKay L.BradyHenry. 1995. Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
69.
WallaceJohn M.YamaguchiRyokoBachmanJerald G.O’MalleyPatrick M.SchulenbergJohn E.JohnstonLloyd D.2007. “Religiosity and Adolescent Substance Use: The Role of Individual and Contextual Influences.”Social Problems54(2):308–27.
70.
WeberMax. [1922] 1963. The Sociology of Religion. Boston, MA: Beacon.
71.
WheatonBlair. 1980. “The Sociogenesis of Psychological Disorder: An Attributional Theory.”Journal of Health and Social Behavior21:100–24.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
