I hope I do not get sucked into a TIPS religious war . . . Some data can be found in the OSU Baseline survey from the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative. This can be found at this link (you must register).
http://www.okmarriage.org/OklahomaMarriageInitiative.asp The researchers argue that the conclusion that fundamentalists divorce at high rates can be explained by early marriage and lower income. When it comes to any social issue differences between the religious and non-religious depend upon how we define what it means to be a religious person. I will focus on Christianity here. Generally if we define Christians as those who agree with a statement like "I am born again in Jesus Christ," we find no differences at all between Christians and non-Christians. When we define Christians behaviorally such as "Do you attend church at least three times a month?" we find differences in behavior between the religious and non-religious. So operationalization makes a world of difference. This is what the researchers at the OMI found. Frequent church at tenders are less likely to divorce and report being happier in their marriage. Of course weekly church attendance does not guarantee a happy marriage. Personally, I find the question of does religion offer pragmatic benefits to be off base. I am not sure that religion in general (Christianity in particular) offers the promise of pragmatic benefits. Joe Joseph J. Horton Ph. D. Box 3077 Grove City College Grove City, PA 16127 724-458-2004 [EMAIL PROTECTED] In God we trust. All others must bring data. -----Original Message----- From: Rick Froman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 2:47 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] Re: Deities "R" Us - tangental Paul Smith provided the following evidence for fundamentalists having a higher divorce rate than others: http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_dira.htm Has anyone done this research controlling statistically for education and income? It just seems like the logical thing to do. Rick Dr. Rick Froman Professor of Psychology John Brown University 2000 W. University Siloam Springs, AR 72761 [EMAIL PROTECTED] (479) 524-7295 http://www.jbu.edu/academics/sbs/faculty/rfroman.asp --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang= english --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
