A Religious Factor in Secular Achievement Among Blacks: The Case of Catholicism

Abstract

This is a study of the relatively unexplored question of the relationship between affiliation and secular achievement among blacks. Examining a sample of urban black adolescents, the research sought Protestant-Catholic differences in attitudes toward achievement and black identity. The results indicate a distinctive secular orientation among black Catholics, combining higher educational and occupational aspirations and an attenuation of black identity. This pattern was absent in the lower class but present in the working and middle classes and was most apparent when the strength of identification was high. These findings are interpreted as indicating that Catholicism may be consequential for status maintenance and moderate mobility among blacks. Whether this interplay can be understood as the effect of a religious factor forms the broader problem of this inquiry.