Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Religious and Political Beliefs at the Individual Level and Across Generations

University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln NE

Investigators

Abstract

How and why are political beliefs and religious beliefs linked together at the individual level and even within families and across generations? Most scholarship treats political and religious belief systems as independent concepts and devotes little attention to the possibility that they may have common origins. Yet existing research demonstrates that political and religious socialization occurs in families, that political and religious traits are partially heritable, and that political attitudes associated with religion are more consistently transmitted from parent to child than are other attitudes. Why do these patterns in the available evidence exist? To answer its overarching question by proposing and testing a new theoretical model that suggests that political and religious beliefs are grounded in a common psychological construct reflecting dispositions towards social order. The researcher aims to identify and measure these dispositions, assess their influence over political and religious beliefs, and assess whether this influence is innate, a product of socialization, or a combination of both. The research design used differs from existing analyses of the origins and transmission of religious and political attitudes in a number of ways. For example, almost all existing political socialization studies focus on parents and children, whereas this project brings the analysis back to a third generation and surveys grandparents, parents, and children. Individuals do not enter marriage or parenthood with blank slates; they also have experienced the transmission of certain belief sets and innate dispositions. Understanding whether parents are serving as "value relays" between generations may shed light on socialization processes as well as provide evidence for heritability effects. This project makes several broader contributions. Public opinion polls have shown in the US and in many democracies that people from different religious traditions tend to vote differently. What is unknown is how and why religious and political belief systems overlap within individuals and are inter-generationally transmitted. In addressing these unknowns, this project has the potential to shed light on the origins of political attitudes and the stability of beliefs across generations.