Minority Participation and Well-Being in Majority Catholic Nations: What Does it Mean to be a Religious Minority?

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of religious majority size on religious minority well-being. Religious minorities face a number of challenges ranging from deliberate discrimination to inadequate worship space and accommodations. Yet for many of the members of religious minority groups, religion remains an important part of community organizing and individual well-being. Given this paradox, it is important to consider the ways that minority status is experienced in different contexts and by different groups. Using data on non-Catholics in majority Catholic nations, this paper demonstrates that the personal benefits of participation in a minority religion are dependent on the size of the Catholic majority. Although religious minorities generally experience health and wellness gains via their engagement with religious communities, the non-Catholic residents of some Catholic nations score higher on self-reports of mental and physical health when they are not actively engaged with their religious tradition. Explanations for this conditional relationship are considered in the discussion of the results.