Church attendance and social status revisited

Church attendance Is a significant phenomenon for understanding the level of Integration In a society. For more than a century various attempts have been made by social scientists to relate church attendance to the social structure of society. One of these attempts embraces the view that the soci-eonomlc status of an actor plays a decisive role In hisJher church attendance and participation In church activities. Formulated as a hypothesis, this study attempts to Investigate the validity of this view by scrutinizing parametric data obtained by means of a census survey which was conducted in 1981 on a country-wide basis among members of the Dutch Reformed Church. Based on multivariance and regression analyses on data obtained from Afrikaans-speaking married males aged 22 years and older, It seemed plausible to advance the opinion that If the socio-economic status of a married man, who Is a member of the Dutch Reformed Church and older than 22 years Increases, the possibility exists that his church attendance will also Increase. It would appear that the educational level of married men in this age category Is a major determinant of their church attendance. Several theoretical explanations are suggested and discussed In order to understand this Interesting pattem of action.