A Causal Model of Belief-Orthodoxy: Proposal and Empirical Test

A causal model of belief-orthodoxy is theoretically developed and empirically tested. The data analysis, which is based upon a Mennonite population and employs the techniques of correlation and multiple regression (path analysis), indicates that age, education, and primary and secondary interaction (the communal involvement variables) are all significant predictors of belief-orthodoxy. Urbanism and economic status, however, are not directly related to belief-orthodoxy, but only indirectly affect the dependent variable through their direct effects upon patterns of interaction. With the exception of recent research on minority prejudice and religious orientation (Middleton, 1973; Roof, 1974), the causal model approach has not been widely adopted within religious research. This is not to say that causality is never assumed in theories of religious phenomena-it is often assumed, but rarely explicated or empirically documented. As the recent exchange between Glock and Stark (1973) and Middleton (1973) has shown, such a state of affairs is not always conducive to sociological understanding, especially in the case of the religious phenomenon known as belief. Aspects of this variable have been linked with a variety of factors, including prejudice (Allport, 1966), politics Johnson, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1967), socio-economic status (Demerath, 1965), secularization (Berger, 1967), and other dimensions of religiosity (Stark and Glock, 1970). Yet, despite the abundance of correlative information, the determinants of variations in individual commitment to traditional religious beliefs (hereafter called belief-orthodoxy) are not well understood. Indeed, at times it appears that such information has brought confusion rather than discernment. In this paper I have attempted to construct and test a causal model of religious belief-orthodoxy. As such, the concern is with the delineation and specification of those variables which may influence the religious practitioner in his commitment to the traditional beliefs of his religious group. The developed model has been tested through the use of data generated from a recent survey of North American Mennonites and the statistical techniques of multiple regression and correlation analysis. Theory construction has been based both upon recent research findings and the application of pertinent theory. The reader should keep in mind, however, that most of the available empirical evi