The religious participation of US immigrants: Exploring contextual and individual influences

This study explores the predictors of religious participation among US immigrants. We analyze data from the General Social Surveys (GSS), along with contextual data from 30 nations derived from the World Values Survey and the World Christian Encyclopedia (WCE). We compare the rates of religious participation of first and second generation immigrants to GSS respondents of more distant immigrant waves. We also compare the predictors of religious participation across nativity groups, and examine the influence of demographic, denominational, and contextual-level religious market factors on immigrants’ religious participation using hierarchical linear models (HLM). We find that immigrant religious participation is similar to other Americans, and that second generation immigrants with a single immigrant parent are the least active. Immigrants with ties to sectarian Christian groups or to the Catholic Church are significantly more active than other immigrants. Neither religious diversity in the country of origin nor the differences from the US market have a significant effect on immigrants’ religious participation. However, immigrants from Catholic nations have high rates of participation, while immigrants from nations with high rates of apostasy have lower rates of participation net of individual factors.