Family Facts: Social Science Research on Family, Society & Religion
Top Ten Findings
My Brother’s Keeper: How Religiosity Is Related to Charity and Volunteering
January 2010
1. Church attendance and volunteerism. Individuals who attend church frequently are more likely to engage in volunteer efforts than those who seldom attend religious services. Frequency of church attendance was related to volunteerism. On average, individuals who reported a high frequency of church attendance, as measured on a six-point scale ranging from “never” to “more than once a week”, were more likely to engage in volunteer activities than those who a low frequency of church attendance, regardless of race.
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2. Religious commitment and charitable giving. Individuals with a high level of religious commitment are more likely to donate to charities than peers with lower levels of commitment. Level of religious commitment was related to charitable giving. Individuals who reported a high level of religious commitment were, on average, more likely to report high levels of overall charitable giving than those who reported low levels of religious commitment. The study did not report how religious commitment was measured.
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3. Church attendance and informal acts of compassion. Compared with more secular peers, individuals who attend religious services weekly or more often are more likely to perform informal acts of compassion, such as helping the homeless or donating blood. All other things being equal, compared to their secular peers, religious respondents (those who attended religious service once a week or more) were more likely to help out with the homeless, give blood, and exhibit civility and honesty (e.g., return excess change to the store).
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4. Church attendance and charitable donations. On average, individuals who attend religious services weekly or more often are more likely to give to charity than peers who seldom attend services. The level of religious service attendance was related to charitable giving. On average, individuals who reported attending religious services once a week or more were 25 percent more likely to give to charitable causes compared to those who reported attending religious services less than a few times a year.
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5. National levels of church attendance and volunteerism. Individuals from countries with relatively high average rates of church attendance are more likely to volunteer than counterparts in more secular countries. Country level religious devotion, which was measured by church attendance, was related to country level rates of volunteer activity. Citizens of the most secular country were, on average, four times less likely to engage in volunteerism than citizens of the most religious country.
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6. Salience of religious belief and volunteerism. On average, individuals who place a greater importance on religious beliefs are more likely to volunteer. Compared with peers who reported that they did not think that religious beliefs mattered as long as one was a good person, individuals who said that religious beliefs were important were 19 percentage points more likely to volunteer (51% vs. 32%).
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7. Involvement in church activities and volunteerism. Compared with peers who do not participate in church activities, individuals who are involved in church activities in addition to attending services tend to be more likely to volunteer in non-church-related volunteer outreach. Among a sample of 711 Asian-Americans, those who reported engaging in church participation beyond religious service attendance were, on average, 2.85 times more likely to engage in secular volunteering compared to those who reported not engaging in church participation.
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8. Private prayer and acts of service. On average, individuals who pray privately are more likely than their peers to belong to volunteer groups that help the elderly, the poor, and the disabled. Individuals who engaged in private prayer were more likely to report being members of voluntary associations aimed at helping the elderly, poor and disabled when compared to those who did not engage in private prayer. Prayer increased the likelihood of volunteering for an organization that assisted the elderly, poor and disabled, on average, by 20 percent.
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9. Importance of religion and seniors’ volunteerism. Senior citizens who place a greater importance on religion tend to be more likely to volunteer. Among a sample of individuals aged 70 and over, those that reported that religion is important to them were 60 percent more likely to report volunteering when compared to similar respondents that did not report that religion was important to them.
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10. Church membership and charitable giving. On average, individuals who are members of a religious congregation tend to give a higher percentage of their household income to charitable causes than peers who are not members of a church. Membership in a religious congregation was related to charitable giving. Individuals who reported being members of a religious congregation gave, on average, a higher percentage of their household income to charitable causes compared to those who reported not being members of a religious congregation.
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Resources
Events:Religious Practice and Civic Life: What the Research Says October 4, 2007 |