Religiosity and Solidarity. Dimensions and relationships disentangled and tested

Abstract

Religions stress the importance of solidarity and brotherhood of man. However, believers do not necessarily conform to these moral standards. Specific kinds of religiosity may relate to specific kinds of solidarity to specific targets. Moreover, the motives religious people have for their prosocial behaviour may not be altruistic. This book examines to what extent different aspects of religiosity are related to different kinds and targets of solidarity. Cross-national comparisons of surveys in several European countries are used to explore the relationships between religiosity on the one hand and on the other hand willingness to donate to charity as well as volunteering for religious and non-religious organisations. The relationships between religiosity and informal, direct helping behaviours to different people are studied with a national Dutch survey. Motives for prosocial behaviour are investigated with a combination of survey and experimental techniques