This study explores how both a person’s own religiosity and the overall religious environment of their country influence volunteering. It finds that individuals who attend church frequently are generally more likely to volunteer, and living in a more religious country also increases overall volunteering levels. However, the gap between religious and nonreligious people is much smaller in highly religious countries, meaning that even less religious individuals tend to volunteer more in those environments. In fact, in very religious countries, how often someone attends church matters less for predicting volunteering. The study also shows a “spillover effect,” where religious people are not only more active in religious volunteering but also contribute more to nonreligious (secular) organizations. This effect is strongest among Catholics compared to other groups.
National Context, Religiosity, and Volunteering Results from 53 Countries
