Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/232698 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 13946
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Over the past half century, a literature has developed across a range of disciplines exploring the relationship between religion and environmental engagement, including pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours.Empirical results are diverse and the relationship seems to vary in size and direction, depending on definitions and the method of investigation adopted. An increasingly important phenomenon which has received far less attention is that of spirituality, within/out the context of a religion. This paper contributes to the literature by examining the question in a predominantly Roman Catholic European Union country where church attendance is in decline. It employs a nationally representative dataset (n=1,029) which includes diverse measures of religiosity and spirituality, as well as measures of interest in environmental issues, in wildlife and natural history, and engagement in countryside activities and gardening, together with relevant socio-economic control variables. Our findings confirm that the usual socio-economic determinants are associated with this type of environmental engagement. We find that church attendance adds no further explanatory power to environmental engagement. On the other hand, participation in socio-cultural religious activities and self-assessed spirituality are positively and significantly associated of various dimensions of environmental engagement.
Subjects: 
religion
spirituality
environment
catholic
secularization
quantitative
JEL: 
O13
P18
Q51
Z12
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
395.66 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.