Abstract
Little is known about race/ethnic differences in the exchange of social support inside as well as outside religious institutions. The purpose of this study is to assess differences in giving and receiving social support inside and outside the church among Whites, Hispanics, and Blacks. Two types of social support are evaluated when support is assessed inside the church: emotional support and spiritual support. Spiritual support refers to informal assistance from fellow church members that is designed to bolster the religious beliefs and practices of the recipient. The findings reveal that Blacks receive and give more emotional and spiritual support inside the church than Whites or Hispanics. However, meaningful differences failed to arise between Whites and Hispanics. In contrast, no differences were found between the three racial/ethnic groups in support that is exchanged outside the church. These findings suggest that religious influences rather than race/ethnicity per se are likely to be at work.
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Notes
The race/ethnic differences that are discussed here are all significant at the .05 level and beyond.
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This research was supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.
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Krause, N. Assessing Supportive Social Exchanges Inside and Outside Religious Institutions: Exploring Variations among Whites, Hispanics, and Blacks. Soc Indic Res 128, 131–146 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-1022-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-1022-6