SOC/REL 390
Reading Assignment 8
Stark, Rodney, and William Sims Bainbridge. 1980. “Towards a Theory of Religious Commitment.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 2(19); 114-128
Iannaccone, Laurence R. 1994. “Why Strict Churches Are Strong.” The American Journal of Sociology 99: 1180-1211.
** You only need to read up through page 1188 (and a couple sentences on 1189).
The main goal of these readings is to give you a sense of what it means to think about religion in “economic” terms. Stark and Bainbridge explain why religions exist using economic theories. Iannaccone explains why strict churches are “stronger” (have more members) than “lenient” churches.
Both of these readings explore religion from an economic theory perspective, specifically “rational choice” theory. The main idea is that “economically rational” behavior means we seek rewards and avoid costs. We are willing to “exchange” costs and rewards. We will pay for things we want, but we want to “maximize our utility” by paying as little as possible to get as much as possible.
So, how does this possibly relate to religion? Read the articles to find out!
Stark and Bainbridge
These authors look to economics and social psychology as a way of understanding religion. They focus on an “exchange” paradigm. Just like in economics we “exchange” money for things; religion can be seen as exchanging costs for rewards.
This article is pretty much just a series of “Axioms, theories, and propositions.”
An axiom is kind of like an assumption – they are statements that they presume to be true.
Definitions clarify terms in the assumptions.
Propositions are claims they are “proposing” based on the axioms.
I think there statements are pretty clearly stated, but I’ve added a little commentary below to highlight some of the axioms and propositions.
A2 and A3 seem simplistic – but they are at the heart of the “exchange” system.
A4 – think back to the first reading that talked about religion as a way of “solving problems.”
P3, 4, 5 – Religion offers “explanations.” — Stark and Bainbridge see having an explanation as a kind of “reward” – getting explanations for life is worth a cost – “paying something for.”
A5 – P6, P7 – some rewards are hard to get, so we are willing to “pay more.” (i.e., give up things to get it). Some rewards (explanations) don’t really exist at all.
A6 – people with different levels of power (resources) have different abilities to get what they want.
*** P14 and 15 (page 121) are really important – if a reward doesn’t exist, then a “compensator” can be used in its place.
P18 – says “Humans will prefer rewards to compensators and will attempt to exchange compensators for rewards.”
P20 (page 123) is important.
Page 124 – basically says two things: 1) religion is about the supernatural; 2) religion is about “general” “compensators” (explanations) not “specific.” (Magic is about specific things).
P21 and Def 21 are also very important – the commentary that follows kind of explains it.
Questions 1 – 3 are short answers, kind of “warm-up” questions. Be sure to answer them, but for this reading, question 4 is where you should concentrate your efforts.
1 – What is their “big” example of a compensator (bottom of p 121 – top of 122)?
2 – Based on P18, Why do humans prefer rewards to compensators?
3 – based on P22 –(take your best guess)
What is an example of a reward (not a compensator) that a religious organization provides?
*** Question 4 – In about 150 words, how would you explain article to a friend? (I really encourage you to literally “explain it to a friend” and then write down what you said.)
Iannaccone – Why Strict Churches Are Strong
5 – What is the “free-rider problem”?
6 – How do strict churches solve the free rider problem?
7 – Why does solving the free rider problem make strict churches stronger?
