3 Votes
Americans over-report church attendance →www.slate.com/id
An upcoming article in Public Opinion Quarterly shows that Americans claim to go to church far more often than they actually do. The researchers attribute it to American's treating religion as part of their cultural identity.
Nerd reaction? by scottb
I’m curious to hear the nerds’ reaction to this.
The basic finding is that Americans tell pollsters that they attend church about 20% more often than they actually attend. Actual attendance is fairly comparable to Europe, but, in Europe, they answer honestly when asked about attendance.
The researchers’ conclusion is that (many) Americans see church attendance as part of their identity, so that they hear the question, “how often do you attend church” as if it’s “really” asking, “are you a good person?”
Since the actual research hasn’t been published yet, and all the reporting of it seems to be based on just a press release, I haven’t been able to dig deeper to understand whether their methodology can really show what they’re suggesting.
Anyway — what do you nerds think? I’m particularly curious to hear from our more religious members.