| This paper examines the relationship between religious characteristics and educational attainment for adults living in the United States. The study begins with a brief introduction to the sociological study of religion, then, reviews Max Weber's (1904) The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism as a theoretical starting point to determine to what extent do religious characteristics shape educational attainment. This study's analysis examined the impact that religiosity and spirituality have on educational attainment by using Pew's 2014 Religious Landscape Study as a secondary data set. The religious characteristics examined in this study are levels of spirituality and religiosity, and the religious identity of the respondent's family of origin, including Evangelical and Mainline Protestants, Catholics and Religious Nones. The results show that Mainline Protestants have the highest average educational attainment, being the only religious identity averaging between an associate and bachelor's degree, while Evangelicals showed the lowest average educational attainment in America; while at the same time reflecting higher levels of religiosity and spirituality when furthering their educational attainment, compared to Catholics and Religious Nones. Across each childhood religious identity, religiosity (the adherence and self-reported importance of religious practice) and spirituality (the belief, and the certainty of that belief, in God or Supernatural force) have opposite effects regarding educational attainment, with spirituality being the stronger predictor of lower educational attainment. This pattern remains true when considering region, gender and race. |
