Social Groups & Religiosity (AQA A Level Sociology): Flashcards

For Norris and Inglehart, Americans are more religious than Europeans because the US lacks a strong welfare state, so the poor feel less secure and turn to religion for security and reassurance.

Pentecostalism appealed to working-class Afro-Caribbean people in the UK because it promotes self-reliance and thrift, which appeal to people facing economic hardship and marginalisation.

False.

The 2021 Census shows that White British people are more likely to report 'no religion' than most minority ethnic groups.

O'Beirne found that Muslims ranked religion as important as family in shaping their identity, while White British people ranked it much lower.

Cultural defence is when religion provides identity, solidarity and protection for a minority group facing racism and hostility.

Modood et al. found that second-generation ethnic minorities are generally less religious than their parents.

Black Pentecostal churches grew because many Anglican congregations failed to welcome Afro-Caribbean migrants (Bird, 1999).

Cultural transition is when religion helps immigrants adjust to a new country and culture, offering support and community.

True.

The London Church Census (2012) found that about 19% of Black Londoners attend weekly, compared with about 8% of white Londoners.

Herberg found that religion helped first-generation immigrants integrate into American society.

Functionalists see religion as social glue that helps ethnic minorities integrate while preserving their distinctiveness.

True.

Groups may maintain these religious patterns in the UK, but this explanation overlooks the impact of migration and minority status.

Marxists argue that many ethnic minorities are working class, and religion appeals because it legitimises inequality.

Pentecostalism offers an ethic of hard work and self-discipline, helping members overcome hardship and achieve economic success.

Church attendance increases with age, peaking among the elderly.

The ageing effect is the idea that people become more religious as they get older, as approaching death raises concern about the afterlife.

True.

Under-15s often attend more, but this is usually because their parents take them.

Brierley found that all age groups except the over-65s show a decline in church attendance.

The generational effect is the idea that each new generation is less religious than the one before, as older people were raised in a more religious era.

Around half of all English churches have no members under the age of 20.

Many older churchgoers are women because women live longer than men.

False.

Older people grew up with less security, facing hardship such as poverty and the Second World War.

Voas and Crockett see secularisation, the decline from one generation to the next, as the main reason.

Arweck and Beckford claim it is increasingly unlikely that parents pass on their religious beliefs to their children.

Voas (2003) suggests there is only a 25% chance that children from mixed-faith homes become regular churchgoers.

Brierley found that 87% of 10-14-year-olds said church was boring and old-fashioned.

Collins-Mayo says religion is now seen as a personal choice rather than a social expectation.

True.

Young Muslims remain highly committed, partly because being Muslim is central to their identity (Samad, 2006).

Samad suggests that Islamophobia strengthens their commitment to their faith.

False.

Women are more religious than men across almost all measures in both Christian and non-Christian faiths, including the New Age.

Field found that 57% of regular church attenders in 2005 were female.

Miller and Hoffmann explain women's higher religiosity by pointing to women being more risk-averse, being socialised to be passive, obedient and nurturing, and having greater flexibility through part-time work or caring.

Women are over-represented in sects and new religious movements compared to men.

Davie says women's closeness to birth and death, through childbearing and caring for the elderly, brings them closer to religion's 'ultimate' questions.

Bruce links women's higher religiosity to their historically lower involvement in paid work, as religion is tied to the private sphere of home and family.

False.

Brown argues that from the 1960s, women entered paid work and became less religious.

The third sphere is Woodhead's (2001) idea that the New Age offers a space of individual autonomy and personal growth, helping women resolve conflict between their work and family roles.

Woodhead says religion remains attractive to women because it emphasises caring values and women's concerns.

Heelas and Woodhead (2005) found that 80% of participants in the holistic milieu in Kendal were female.

Bruce (1996) estimates that women are twice as likely as men to join sects.

Organismic deprivation is when health issues, such as illness and childbirth, make women more likely to seek the healing that sects offer.

Ethical deprivation attracts women to sects because women are perceived as more morally conservative, so they are drawn to sects that condemn moral decline.

The Pentecostal gender paradox is that Pentecostalism is patriarchal, yet highly attractive to women.

True.

While official Pentecostal doctrine gives men authority, church literature often promotes more equal marriage relations.

Brusco found that Pentecostal women used religion to challenge male machismo and demand respect at home.