Termin:
20.06.2007
13:00
The Influence of the Religiosity of Three Generations of
Family Members on Cohabitation and Marriage
Arland Thornton, University of Michigan
In this presentation Arland Thornton will address the influence of religion and religiosity on entrance into cohabitation and marriage. Religious affiliation, attendance, commitment, and belief have long been held to be important influences on family and demographic behavior, although there has been some commentary that this influence may have declined in recent years. In this presentation I consider religion in the lives of young adults and their parents and grandparents and examine how religiosity in each generation affects the marriage and cohabitation experiences of the young adults.
The data for this presentation come from the Intergenerational Panel Study of Parents and Children, a panel study of a cohort of young people born in the United States in 1961 and followed until most had cohabited and/or married. The mothers of these children were interviewed in 1962 and in seven subsequent interviews from 1962 through 1993. The children were interviewed as young adults in 1980, 1985, and 1993. The interviews with the mothers in 1962 ascertained information about the religiosity of their own parents-and this and subsequent interviews ascertained information about the mother's and father's religious beliefs, commitments, and activities. Each of the young adult interviews ascertained similar information about religion.
The analysis shows that religiosity in all three generations influences young adult experience with cohabitation and marriage. The pathway to union formation-through cohabitation or marriage-is strongly influenced by various dimensions of self, parental, and grandparental religiosity. The analysis tracks the pathways of this influence across the life courses of the three generations.
The material for this presentation will be drawn from the book manuscript, Marriage and Cohabitation, authored by Arland Thornton, William G. Axinn, and Yu Xie. The book is forthcoming from the University of Chicago Press in 2007.
Kontakt:
Birgit Heider
Institut für Demographie
Zentrum Sozialwissenschaften
Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Wohllebengasse 12-14, 6.OG
1040 Wien
T +43 1 515 81-7702
F +43 1 515 81-7730