Interfaith Groups as Mediating Structures for Political Action: A Multilevel Analysis.

Area of Science:

• Sociology of Religion
• Political Science
• Community Organizing

Background:

• Religious settings can act as mediating structures influencing individual behavior.
• Interfaith groups bring diverse individuals together for shared purposes.
• Understanding the dynamics within these groups is crucial for civic engagement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how interfaith groups in the United States facilitate individual political action.
• To identify specific group activities and characteristics that predict political participation.
• To explore the mediating role of religious settings in political engagement.

Main Methods:

• Multilevel modeling analysis was employed.
• Data were collected from 169 individuals across 25 interfaith groups.
• Key variables included group activities (information sharing) and perceptions (community, trust).

Main Results:

• Sharing community information within interfaith groups positively predicted political action.
• Sharing religious information negatively predicted political action.
• A sense of the group working for local change predicted political action, especially when community information sharing was high.

Conclusions:

• Interfaith groups can mediate political action, particularly through community information exchange.
• The group's sense of purpose for local change is a significant predictor of political action.
• Both individual and group characteristics are important for understanding political action within religious settings.