Church attendance and social status revisited

Abstract

Abstract Church attendance Is a significant phenomenon for understanding the level of Integration In a society. For more than a century various attempts have been made by social scientists to relate church attendance to the social structure of society. One of these attempts embraces the view that the soci-eonomlc status of an actor plays a decisive role In hisJher church attendance and participation In church activities. Formulated as a hypothesis, this study attempts to Investigate the validity of this view by scrutinizing parametric data obtained by means of a census survey which was conducted in 1981 on a country-wide basis among members of the Dutch Reformed Church. Based on multivariance and regression analyses on data obtained from Afrikaans-speaking married males aged 22 years and older, It seemed plausible to advance the opinion that If the socio-economic status of a married man, who Is a member of the Dutch Reformed Church and older than 22 years Increases, the possibility exists that his church ...