Divided We Stand, United We Fall: Religious Pluralism, Giving, and Volunteering

Abstract

This article examines to what extent religious context influences giving to, and volunteering for, religious causes—both directly and through increased attendance at religious services—and whether it has unintended spillover effects on giving and volunteering for secular purposes. Results from individuals living in a sample of counties in the United States indicate that a high level of religious pluralism is not associated with an increase in the probability that individuals will attend religious services regularly. Religious pluralism is, however, directly and positively associated with religious volunteering, while the association is not statistically significant for giving. Increases in religious volunteering associated with a high level of religious pluralism do not displace secular volunteering. There is no minority effect: individuals are equally likely to give to, and volunteer for, religious and secular causes whether they live in counties where their religious group represents the majority or the minority of the total population of religious adherents. As the proportion of the population in a county who is religious increases, so does the probability that any one individual will give to, and volunteer for, religious causes. I do not, however, find a relationship between the devoutness of a religious community and an individual's propensity to give to, and volunteer for, secular causes.