Beyond Belief: How Membership in Congregations Affects the Fertility of U.S. Mormons and Jews

Abstract

Scholars have long recognized that participation in religious congregations is strongly linked to fertility outcomes, and this relationship has practical implications for religious, social and political life in the United States. Yet, the way in which congregational participation affects fertility is not well understood. The Theory of Conjunctural Action suggests that congregational participation affects fertility both by teaching schemas that valorize family formation and by creating material conditions conducive to family formation. However, other research found that congregational participation was simply a proxy for learned schemas, with no additional impact on fertility. The present study explores this question using the Pew Research Center’s 2011 National Survey of Mormons and the 2013 Survey of U.S. Jews. These two minority religious groups represent similarly pronatalist religious traditions but opposite extremes in terms of both fertility (i.e., Mormons have higher fertility) and congregational participation (i.e., Mormons have higher participation). The analysis reveals that congregational participation and intra-group friendships have an independent effect on fertility, even controlling for learned schemas. This suggests that the influence of group participation on fertility is not solely due to its impact on learned schemas, but also due to the impact of material elements such as religious social networks. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.