Religiosity in times of insecurity: an analysis of Irish, Spanish and Portuguese European Social Survey data, 2002-12

E-ISSN： 2050-5280|22|2|4-29

ISSN： 0791-6035

Source： Irish Journal of Sociology, Vol.22, Iss.2, 2014-11, pp. : 4-29

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Abstract

Secularisation theory would suggest that with increasing economic development, industrialisation and modernity, the influence of the church should be waning. However, more recent theories regarding religiosity in times of personal and contextual insecurity have suggested that secularisation is not a linear process. Existential security theory predicts that religiosity and religious practice are higher in times of insecurity. Given the economic crisis of 2008, the changes in many governments and subsequent austerity measures, it could be argued that all households in austerity countries are facing more uncertain times than they were before 2008, both personally and contextually. However, analysis of Irish, Spanish and Portuguese data from the European Social Survey (2002-12) using ordinary least squares regression and logistic regression generally does not support this theory in terms of contextual insecurity. There is some support for the link between personal insecurity and religiosity; recent immigrants are significantly and substantially more religious in terms of subjective religiosity, frequency of prayer and frequency of attendance at religious services than earlier immigrants and those who were born in a country.