Black/White Differences in the Relationship Between Religiosity and Life Satisfaction

OBJECTIVE: This study assessed differences in religiosity and life satisfaction for Blacks and Whites in the US. METHODS: This study used data from the 2002 Americans' Changing Lives Survey (ACLS). The sample consisted of 252 Black and 924 White respondents, ages 24 to 75. Regression was used to test the hypothesis that there are statistically significant differences between Blacks and Whites in the relationship between religiosity and life satisfaction. RESULTS: Religiosity did not predict life satisfaction for all study participants. When individual indicators of religiosity were regressed on life satisfaction, results showed that (a) religious participation has a direct relationship with general life satisfaction among Whites, (b) religious service attendance has a direct relationship with neighborhood satisfaction among Blacks and (c) religious participation has a inverse relationship with neighborhood satisfaction among Blacks. Other statistically significant predictors of life satisfaction for both racial groups included social support, meaning of life and age. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that there is a need to address issues of validity for religiosity and life satisfaction as constructs in research. The relationship between sum religiosity and sum life satisfaction was not statistically significant. The results, taken together with prior research, suggest that different processes operate in the association of religiosity to life satisfaction for Blacks and Whites. Whereas religious participation was directly associated with general life satisfaction for Whites, religious service attendance and religious participation predicted neighborhood satisfaction for Blacks. Additional research is needed in measuring and evaluating the reliability and validity of religiosity and life satisfaction.