Abstract
This study examines the correlates of the types of instrumental support exchanges that occur between church members among African Americans. Exchanges of four types of instrumental support are examined: transportation assistance, help with chores, financial assistance and help during illness. Data for this study are from the National Survey of American Life Re-Interview, the follow-up survey to the National Survey of American Life which is a nationally representative sample of the African American population. We found that African Americans were more likely to both give and receive support in situations involving illness, followed by transportation, financial assistance, and help with chores. For each of the four types of instrumental support, respondents indicate that they provide more assistance to others than they receive. For all eight dependent variables, those with lower levels of education were more actively engaged in receiving and providing support than their higher educated counterparts. Higher levels of religious service attendance were associated with higher levels of support, which underscores the importance of involvement in faith communities for assistance. Overall, our findings confirm the importance of church-based informal social support between African Americans and documents within group diversity as both recipients and providers of assistance.
The past thirty years has witnessed the emergence of a body of research on the role of church-based networks and congregational members as sources of social support (Taylor & Chatters, 1986, 1988; Krause, 2015; van Olphen, 2003). Similar to family members, church members provide, transportation, help with chores, assistance to individuals when they are ill and, in some cases, financial assistance. Research also indicates that church-based social support is also extremely beneficial for health and well-being (Assari, 2013; Debnam et al., 2012). Although families play a stronger role in informal support networks, assistance from church networks is important and should not be underestimated. For instance, Chatters and colleagues (2011) found that among African Americans, church support networks were protective against both suicidal ideation and attempts. Another study of older African Americans (Chatters et al., 2015) found that church-based support networks were protective against depressive symptoms and distress, even when controlling for support provided by extended family members. In a series of studies of older African Americans and whites, Krause found that church-based support is associated with several positive health and well-being outcomes including self-rated health (Krause, 2006a), health care use (Krause, 2010) and even mortality (Krause, 2006b). Further, in many of these studies, Krause finds that the positive health and mental health benefits of church support are stronger for African American than whites. This differential impact is likely due to higher levels of religious participation and social integration in faith communities among African Americans as compared to whites (Krause, 2006a). The goal of this investigation is to examine the correlates of instrumental social support that is both given to and received from their church members using data from the National Survey of American Life-Reinterview.
African American Church Support
Both historical and more contemporary research indicates that African Americans report higher levels of religious participation than the general population. African Americans report higher levels of religious involvement than their white counterparts in studies of older adults (Levin, Taylor & Chatters, 1994; Krause & Chatters, 2005), adolescents (Christerson et al. 2010) and adults of all age groups (Brown et al., 2015: Chatters et al., 2009; Taylor et al., 1996). These findings are consistent across measures of organizational participation (e.g., attendance, membership), non-organizational activities (e.g., prayer, reading religious materials) and subjective religiosity (e.g., subjective attitudes about the importance of religion). For instance, in a study using the National Survey of American Life (Chatters et al., 2009), African Americans attended religious services, were more likely to be official members of their place of worship and participated in congregational activities more frequently than whites. This high level of organizational religious participation fosters strong connections to faith communities and is one of the reasons why many African Americans are highly integrated into their churches and regard congregational networks as an important aspect of their lives.
The vast majority of research on church-based informal social support networks focuses on racial differences. Although there are a few exceptions (Nooney & Woodrum, 2002; Sternthal et al., 2012), research has found that for the most part African Americans are more involved in church support networks than are whites. For instance, Krause (2002) found that for 10 out of 12 different indicators of church support, older African Americans had significantly higher levels of assistance than whites. In a follow-up article, comparing church networks of older African Americans, Mexican Americans and whites Krause and Bastida (2011) found that older African Americans were more likely than both older whites and older Mexican Americans to receive and provide both emotional and instrumental support with congregational members. In addition, older African Americans were more likely to receive spiritual support than these groups.
In addition to research focusing on older adults, more recent work examines race and ethnicity differences among adults of all ages. Krause (2016) finds that African American adults were significantly more likely than whites and Hispanics to receive and provide both emotional support and spiritual support with congregants. An analysis of the National Survey of American Life (Taylor et al., 2013) indicated that African Americans had more frequent contact, were subjectively closer and provided general support to their congregation members more frequently than non-Hispanic whites.
One of the limitations of much of the research on church support networks is that it mostly focuses on racial differences. There are, however, several studies focused on differences in church support among African Americans. In arguably the first studies of church-based support networks, Taylor and Chatters (1986, 1988) found that roughly 2 out of 3 African Americans received some level of social support from their congregation members. Older African Americans also identify help during illness, prayer, companionship, and advice and encouragement as the most important types of support they received (Taylor & Chatters, 1986).
A panel analysis of support from church members among African Americans found that between 1979–1980 and 1992, the majority of respondents reported stability in their level of received support. Roughly 15% of respondents indicated that the level of church support that they received decreased during these periods. A comparable percentage reported that the support that they received from church members increased (Taylor, Chatters & Jackson, 1997). Finally, a more recent panel analysis (2001–2008) of changes in church support among older adults (Hayward & Krause, 2013) found that African Americans exchanged higher levels of emotional and instrumental support than whites. Further, emotional support and satisfaction with emotional support received increased over time among African Americans. However, receiving and giving instrumental support decreased over time to the point that, for respondents who were 85 years old, no black-white differences in exchanging instrumental support were observed (Hayward & Krause, 2013).
Purpose of the Study
The present investigation examines African Americans’ reports of the levels and types of instrumental support exchanges that occur with church members. Exchanges of four types of instrumental support are examined: transportation assistance, help with chores, financial assistance and help during illness. The analysis focuses on reports of how often respondents receive these supports from people in their place of worship, as well as how often they report providing these supports to their church members. In addition, we examine sociodemographic and religious service attendance as correlates of receiving and giving instrumental support.
This paper makes several contributions to the extant literature. First, the vast majority of studies in this area examine basic racial differences in church support networks. Although analyses of racial differences are important, they provide limited information about the scope and functioning of African Americans church support networks. Second, our analysis investigates church support networks of African Americans across the entire adult age range, whereas much of this literature focuses solely on the church support networks of older adults. Lastly, in contrast to the majority of work in this field that only examines receiving support, this analysis focuses on both the receipt and provision of different types of instrumental support, and thus, complements recent research on reciprocal church support among African Americans (Taylor et al., 2016).
METHODS
Sample
This analysis is based on data from The National Survey of American Life Adult Re-interview. Both the original National Survey of American Life (NSAL) and the NSAL-Re-interview (NSAL-RIW) were collected by the Program for Research on Black Americans at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. The NSAL sample has a national multi-stage probability design which consists of 64 primary sampling units (PSUs), 56 of which overlap substantially with existing Survey Research Center’s National Sample primary areas (see Jackson et al., 2004 for a more detailed discussion of the NSAL sample). Data collection was conducted from February 2001 to June 2003, resulting in a total of 6,082 interviews with persons aged 18 or older (3,570 African Americans, 891 non-Hispanic whites, and 1,621 Blacks of Caribbean descent). The overall response rate for the NSAL was 72.3%. Final response rates for the NSAL two-phase sample designs were computed using the American Association of Public Opinion Research guidelines for Response Rate 3 samples (AAPOR, 2006).
All respondents in the original NSAL were invited to complete a self-administered follow-up questionnaire. The NSAL Adult Re-interview (RIW) included additional measures of instrumental church support that were not available in the original NSAL. Of the 3,570 African American NSAL respondents who completed the original interview, a total of 2,137 completed the self-administered NSAL-RIW (response rate of 60%) and comprise the sample for the current study. The analytic sample which includes respondents who answered all relevant items used for this study is 1,837. Data collections for the NSAL NSAL-RIW were approved by the University of Michigan Institutional Review Board. Both datasets are available through the Inter-University Consortium of Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan.
Measures
Dependent Variables
Eight dependent variables are used in this analysis, 4 of which assess how often respondents receive different types of support from their church members. Specifically, respondents were asked: “How often do the people in your place of worship provide you with transportation?” “How often do the people in your place of worship help you with regular chores, such as shopping, cleaning or yard work?” “How often do the people in your place of worship help you financially?” “How often do the people in your place of worship help when you are sick or ill?” The 4 remaining dependent variables assess how often respondents provided specific types of support to their church members. In particular, respondents were asked how often they provided assistance to others in the form of: transportation, chores, financial help, and help when ill. Response categories for each of the 8 church support items was very often (4), fairly often (3), not too often (2), and never (1). Given that some minimal level of service attendance is necessary to establish social ties and assistance, respondents who have never attended religious services since the age of 18 except for weddings or funerals were not asked the church support items. This practice is consistent with other research in this area (Krause, 2006a; 2015) and reflects a general practice in survey research.
Independent Variables
Sociodemographic factors (i.e., age, gender, family income, education, marital status, region and religious service attendance) are included as control variables. Age and education are coded in years and family income is coded in dollars. Marital status is coded as married, cohabiting, separated, divorced, widowed and never married. Region is coded as four categories (Northeast, North Central, West and South). Frequency of religious service attendance is measured by the question: “How often do you usually attend religious services?” Response categories for this variable are: attend nearly everyday (6), attend at least once a week (5), a few times a month (4), a few times a year(3), less than once a year (2), never (1).
Analysis Strategy
Computations for the distribution of the sociodemographic characteristics and linear regression analyses were conducted using SAS 9.1.3, which uses the Taylor expansion approximation technique for calculating the complex design-based estimates of variance. Gender, marital status, and region were represented by dummy variables in the regression analyses (male gender, married, and Southern residence were designated as reference categories); education and family income were continuous variables. All analyses utilize analytic weights. To obtain results that are generalizable to the African American population, all statistical analyses accounted for the complex multistage clustered design of the NSAL sample, unequal probabilities of selection, nonresponse (including the lower response rate of the NSAL-RIW), and post-stratification to calculate weighted, nationally representative population estimates and standard errors.
Results
Description of Sample
Table 1 presents the distribution of sample characteristics and the study variables. Respondent average age is 44 years and women comprise 60% of the sample. On average, respondents report 12.5 years of education and yearly family incomes of $35,810. Comparable percentages of respondents are married (35%) or never married (28%), 7.7% are cohabiting with a partner, and 29.7% are separated, widowed or divorced. A majority of respondents reside in the South (59.9%), 18.6% in the North Central region, 13.9% in the Northeast and 7.6% in the West. Respondents’ average level of church attendance is 3.99.
Table 1.
Demographic Characteristics of the Sample and Distribution of Study Variables
| % | N | Mean | S.D. | Min | Max | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Church Support Variables | ||||||
| Receive Assistance | ||||||
| Transportation | 1830 | 1.94 | 0.97 | 1 | 4 | |
| Chores | 1837 | 1.46 | 0.72 | 1 | 4 | |
| Financial Help | 1831 | 1.53 | 0.72 | 1 | 4 | |
| Help when Ill | 1807 | 2.17 | 0.99 | 1 | 4 | |
| Provide Assistance | ||||||
| Transportation | 1823 | 1.99 | 0.88 | 1 | 4 | |
| Chores | 1831 | 1.77 | 0.79 | 1 | 4 | |
| Financial Help | 1824 | 1.87 | 0.81 | 1 | 4 | |
| Help when Ill | 1821 | 2.31 | 0.89 | 1 | 4 | |
| Control Variables | ||||||
| Age | 1837 | 44.37 | 14.01 | 18 | 90 | |
| Gender | ||||||
| Male | 39.40 | 568 | ||||
| Female | 60.60 | 1269 | ||||
| Years of Education | 1837 | 12.55 | 2.16 | 1 | 17 | |
| Family Income | 1837 | 35810.61 | 30369.02 | 0 | 520000 | |
| Marital Status | ||||||
| Married | 34.68 | 518 | ||||
| Cohabit | 7.66 | 117 | ||||
| Separated | 7.48 | 152 | ||||
| Divorced | 13.09 | 295 | ||||
| Widowed | 9.08 | 207 | ||||
| Never Married | 28.00 | 544 | ||||
| Region | ||||||
| Northeast | 13.88 | 197 | ||||
| North Central | 18.58 | 311 | ||||
| South | 59.91 | 1235 | ||||
| West | 7.63 | 94 | ||||
| Church Attendance | 1837 | 3.99 | 1.08 | 1 | 6 |
Percents and N are presented for categorical variables and Means and Standard Deviations are presented for continuous variables. Percentages are weighted and frequencies are un-weighted.
Receipt of Instrumental Support
The percentage distributions for the 4 variables assessing receipt of support from church members indicate that respondents received assistance when ill more frequently than any other type of support. Combining response categories for very often and fairly often, 40.1% of respondents reported receiving assistance when ill, followed by transportation (28.6%), financial assistance (13.6%) and help with chores (12.5%). Results of the regression analysis for receipt of instrumental support from church members (Table 2) indicate that frequency of attending religious services is positively associated with assistance when ill, transportation, and financial aid; help with chores borders significance (p=.063). Gender, education, income and marital status were significantly associated with receiving transportation assistance. Women received transportation assistance less frequently than men, while persons with lower incomes and fewer years of formal education received transportation more frequently than their counterparts. Divorced and never married respondents reported receiving transportation more frequently than their married counterparts. Age, education and marital status were significantly associated with the receipt of assistance with chores such that older respondents, those with lower levels of education, and divorced, widowed and never married respondents reported receiving more assistance with chores than their counterparts. With regard to financial help from church members, age education and income were negatively related indicating that younger respondents and those with lower family incomes and education received financial assistance more frequently than their counterparts. Never married respondents reported receiving financial assistance more frequently than their married counterparts, whereas respondents who reside in the Northeast reported receiving financial assistance less frequently than Southerners. Lastly, respondents with fewer years of education reported receiving help when ill more frequently than their counterparts.
Table 2.
Multivariate Analysis of the correlates of Instrumental Support Received from Congregational Members among African Americans
| Transportation | Chores | Financial Help | Help when Ill | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B(SE) | B(SE) | B(SE) | B(SE) | |
| Age | 0.00(0.00) | 0.00(0.00)* | −0.01(0.00)*** | 0.00(0.00) |
| Gender | ||||
| Male | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Female | −0.16(0.05)** | −0.10(0.05) | −0.07(0.05) | −0.07(0.07) |
| Education | −0.06(0.01)*** | −0.05(0.01)*** | −0.05(0.01)*** | −0.06(0.01)*** |
| Family Income | −0.02(0.01)** | −0.01(0.00) | −0.01(0.00)* | −0.01(0.00) |
| Marital Status | ||||
| Married | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Cohabit | 0.04(0.12) | 0.06(0.12) | 0.06(0.11) | −0.20(0.14) |
| Separated | 0.01(0.09) | 0.03(0.08) | −0.06(0.06) | −0.04(0.12) |
| Divorced | 0.18(0.08)* | 0.14(0.07)* | −0.02(0.05) | −0.11(0.09) |
| Widowed | 0.21(0.11) | 0.21(0.08)** | 0.15(0.08) | 0.04(0.13) |
| Never Married | 0.28(0.09)** | 0.26(0.07)*** | 0.16(0.06)* | 0.14(0.10) |
| Region | ||||
| Northeast | 0.05(0.06) | −0.07(0.04) | −0.15(0.06)* | −0.05(0.07) |
| North Central | −0.05(0.07) | −0.06(0.05) | −0.08(0.07) | −0.09(0.10) |
| South | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| West | −0.07(0.12) | −0.07(0.09) | −0.12(0.09) | −0.20(0.16) |
| Church Attendance | 0.13(0.03)*** | 0.04(0.02) | 0.07(0.02)*** | 0.17(0.02)*** |
| p | ||||
| F | 18.83 | 16.29 | 11.34 | 8.05 |
| Prob > F | <0.0001 | <0.0001 | <0.0001 | <0.0001 |
| N | 1826 | 1833 | 1827 | 1803 |
B= regression coefficient; SE= standard error;
Note: Significance test of the individual parameter estimates were based on a complex design-corrected t-test.
p < .05;
p< .01;
p < .001
Provision of Instrumental Support
The percentage distributions for types of assistance provided to church members is similar to that for receiving assistance. More than 4 out of 10 respondents (43.3%) report providing help to church members who are ill (combining either very or fairly often), followed by providing transportation (29.5%), financial assistance (23.3%) and help with chores (20.5%). Results from the regression analysis for provision of instrumental support to fellow church members (Table 3) are similar to findings for receiving assistance. Frequency of service attendance is positively associated with providing each type of support. Persons who attend religious services more frequently provide assistance to others in their church with transportation, chores, finances, and during illness on a more frequent basis than do infrequent attenders. Education and marital status are significantly associated with the provision of transportation; those with lower levels of education provide transportation more frequently, while separated respondents are less likely to provide transportation than married respondents. Gender and education are associated with providing help with chores and providing financial assistance. Women provide help with chores and financial assistance less frequently than men. Persons with lower levels of education provide help with chores and financial assistance more frequently than their counterparts with more years of formal education. Lastly, age and education are significantly associated with providing assistance to church members who are ill. Older persons and those with fewer years of education provide assistance to congregants who are ill on a more frequent basis than younger persons and those with more education.
Table 3.
Multivariate Analysis of the correlates of Instrumental Support Provided to Congregational Members among African Americans
| Transportation | Chores | Financial Help | Help when Ill | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B(SE) | B(SE) | B(SE) | B(SE) | |
| Age | 0.00(0.00) | 0.00(0.00) | 0.00(0.00) | 0.01(0.00)** |
| Gender | ||||
| Male | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Female | −0.09(0.06) | −0.16(0.06)* | −0.15(0.05)** | −0.06(0.07) |
| Education | −0.02(0.01)* | −0.03(0.01)** | −0.03(0.01)* | −0.06(0.01)*** |
| Family Income | 0.00(0.01) | −0.01(0.00) | 0.00(0.00) | −0.01(0.00) |
| Marital Status | ||||
| Married | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Cohabit | −0.20(0.13) | 0.09(0.11) | −0.06(0.11) | −0.16(0.12) |
| Separated | −0.30(0.08)*** | −0.03(0.12) | 0.05(0.10) | −0.03(0.10) |
| Divorced | −0.13(0.11) | 0.06(0.08) | 0.00(0.07) | −0.07(0.07) |
| Widowed | −0.11(0.11) | 0.08(0.10) | 0.04(0.09) | −0.10(0.12) |
| Never Married | −0.09(0.09) | 0.13(0.07) | 0.06(0.07) | 0.16(0.09) |
| Region | ||||
| Northeast | −0.09(0.09) | −0.05(0.08) | −0.10(0.09) | −0.04(0.08) |
| North Central | −0.01(0.07) | −0.02(0.06) | −0.05(0.06) | −0.12(0.07) |
| South | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| West | −0.09(0.06) | 0.08(0.10) | −0.10(0.10) | −0.20(0.11) |
| Church Attendance | 0.16(0.02)*** | 0.10(0.02)*** | 0.17(0.02)*** | 0.19(0.02)*** |
| P | ||||
| F | 9.99 | 7.09 | 10.35 | 21.97 |
| Prob > F | <0.0001 | <0.0001 | <0.0001 | <0.0001 |
| N | 1819 | 1827 | 1820 | 1817 |
B= regression coefficient; SE= standard error;
Note: Significance test of the individual parameter estimates were based on a complex design-corrected t-test.
p < .05;
p< .01;
p < .001
Discussion
This study investigated the correlates of receiving and providing four different types of instrumental support with church members. Overall, findings indicate that church members are significant sources of informal social support for African Americans. These findings are consistent with previous literature on the role of church members in the daily lives of many African Americans (Assari, 2013; Chatters et al., 2011; Chatters et al., 2015; Krause, 2006a, 2006b, 2010, 2016; Taylor & Chatters, 1986, 1988; Taylor et al., 2013; van Olphen et al., 2003).
We found that African Americans were more likely to both give and receive support in situations involving illness, followed by transportation, financial assistance, and help with chores. Roughly 4 out of 10 respondents reported giving and receiving support during illness, a finding that is consistent with previous research indicating that help when ill was the most important type of assistance received from church members (Taylor & Chatters, 1986). The second most frequent type of support provided and received was transportation. As a form of assistance, transportation includes travel to and from religious services, as well grocery shopping, medical appointments and other errands. With regard to financial assistance and help with chores, slightly more African Americans indicated that they were involved with receiving and providing financial assistance than helping with chores. Chores can be time consuming (e.g., cooking meals) and, in some cases, may involve substantial physical demands (e.g., house cleaning, shoveling snow, lawn mowing, yardwork). Performing these more intensive activities may be indicative of a high level of commitment between the individuals engaged in these exchanges, as well as having the physical capacity and specialized skills to complete these tasks. Additionally, 14% of respondents report receiving and 23% report providing financial assistance either very or fairly often which underscores the importance of church members as an important source of monetary support.
Our analysis also found that for each of the four types of instrumental support, respondents indicate that they provide more assistance to others than they receive. This is consistent with other research on reciprocal support among family members which indicates that individuals report giving more than they receive (Ingersoll-Dayton & Antonucci, 1988). Two explanations for these findings are possible. First, as a general phenomenon, people are more likely to overestimate the degree to which they give and underestimate the degree to which they receive assistance. Essentially, due to recall biases, our own instances of providing assistance to others are more salient to us than are instances in which we receive aid from others. A second explanation may be that church members who need assistance and are a recipient of support may garner aid from several individuals. For instance, several church members may provide help with a variety of chores for an older church member who lives alone (e.g., shoveling snow, buying groceries and raking leaves). Similarly, numerous church members may provide financial assistance to a family that has been a victim of a fire or who need help with funeral expenses.
Frequency of service attendance was positively associated with 7 of the 8 dependent variables. This finding is consistent with previous research indicating that higher levels of involvement in religious networks is associated with higher rates of receiving social support (Chatters, et al., 1988; Krause & Hayward, 2014; Taylor et al., 2005). This has been found with research among African Americans as well as other populations (Taylor et al., 2005). For instance, Nguyen and her research team similarly found that higher levels of participation in religious services were positively associated with both the provision and receipt of church based informal support among Caribbean Black adults (Nguyen et al., 2016), as well as college aged Muslims in the United States (Nguyen et al., 2013).
Turning to findings for sociodemographic correlates, age differences for both providing and receiving support indicated that older respondents were: more likely to receive help with chores, less likely to receive financial assistance and more likely to provide help to ill church members. This is an interesting pattern of age relationships and each requires explanation. First, given age-related changes in physical capacity (e.g., strength, endurance), older adults would be more likely to need assistance with chores than their younger counterparts, especially chores that are physically demanding such as shoveling snow and yard work. Family members are regarded as primary support resources for older adults (Chatters et al., 1985, 1986) and provide considerable help with chores. However, church members may be enlisted to supplement the efforts of family members. Further, older adults who may not want to overly burden their family, do not live in close proximity to family, and/or are estranged from family members may enlist the assistance of church members. With regard to financial aid, older adults were less likely to receive financial assistance from church members. Other evidence (Jackson, 1972) indicates that despite that fact that they themselves may have meager incomes, older African Americans are more likely to provide financial assistance to adult children as a way to invest in younger generations (also see Swartz, 2009). This may indicate that older African Americans are not inclined to solicit and accept financial assistance from church members, preferring instead to receive services such as help with chores.
Finally, older age was associated with providing assistance to church members who were ill, but age was not associated with receiving assistance when ill. In other words, although age was not important in terms of receiving help from others when ill, older as opposed to younger respondents were more likely to provide help to others during their illness. One of the interesting dynamics of social support relationships and support effectiveness is that, in many cases, first-hand experience with an issue is required in order to know how to provide assistance. For instance, experienced parents are more likely to understand the types of support needed by a first-time parent with a newborn infant. In this analysis, older respondents who have likely previously experienced a health crisis may be more likely to understand the needs and appropriate forms of assistance required by church members who are ill.
Several significant gender differences indicated that African American women received assistance with transportation less frequently than their male counterparts and were also less likely to provide help with chores and financial assistance. These findings are counter-intuitive for several reasons. African American women attend religious services more frequently, are more likely to be church members and participate in congregational activities (other than religious services) more frequently than African American men (Taylor et al., 2014). Given this level of investment in the church, it is not unreasonable to expect that African American women would be more involved in church-based support networks. Nonetheless, previous research on church support networks among African Americans, indicates that men were more likely to receive support than women (Taylor & Chatters, 1988). Taylor and Chatters (1988) suggested that men may receive more support due to their higher status positions in many churches (e.g., church deacons, elders and other church office holders) which provides them with special visibility and access to social resources. Alternatively, men may receive the benefits of church support because of their filial connections with women who are spouses, mothers, or daughters, and who are also members of the church. That is, men may benefit by virtue of their connections to women who are involved in the church and represent conduits for receiving support. A final gender finding indicated that women were less likely than men to provide help with chores and financial assistance. This may reflect gender disparities in household labor (e.g., women perform more housework) and financial resources (e.g., women have lower salaries) that constrain women from providing these types of aid to church members.
The few marital status differences in church-based support indicated that, in comparison to married persons: 1) divorced and never married respondents receive assistance with transportation and chores more frequently, 2) never married respondents receive financial assistance more frequently and, 3) widowed receive assistance with chores more frequently. Given that research on religious participation indicates that married African Americans attend religious services more frequently than those who are divorced and never married (Taylor, Chatters & Brown, 2014), we anticipated that married respondents would receive more assistance than divorced, widowed and never married persons. By way of explanation, given that being married generally provides more social and material resources, divorced, widowed and never married respondents likely have higher needs for assistance with chores, transportation and finances.
Prior research fails to find any socioeconomic status differences (Taylor & Chatters, 1988) in levels of church support, possibly due to the use of a measure of overall church support combining emotional and instrumental support. However, in the present study that focuses only on instrumental assistance, several of the more interesting findings involve relationships between education and family income and instrumental support exchanges. With respect to education, across all 8 measures, those with lower levels of education were more actively engaged in receiving and providing support than their higher educated counterparts. Prior research on church involvement (Taylor et al., 2014) indicates that education is positively associated with frequency of service attendance and participation in congregational activities (e.g., choirs, women’s club). Given this, a positive association between education and support exchanges might be expected. However, the present findings that persons with fewer years of education were actively involved in the exchange of goods and services has parallels to research on family support networks in which poor African Americans are heavily involved in exchanges of instrumental support with extended family members (e.g., Stack, 1975). Turning to family income, persons with low levels of income were more likely to receive transportation and financial assistance from church members, reflecting a need-based explanation for support provision.
Taken as a whole, this study identified a number of sociodemographic factors that are important for exchanging different types of support with church members. Interestingly, receiving instrumental support from church members had twice as many significant correlates than did giving support to church members. Several prior findings regarding the sociodemographic and service attendance correlates of church support were consistent with a need-based perspective—that is those who are materially or socially disadvantaged would be more likely to receive assistance and less likely to provide assistance: being older and receiving help with chores and having lower education and income and receiving various forms of assistance from church members. However, several relationships between sociodemographic factors were unexpected and counter to prior research: having lower levels of education and providing higher levels of all types of support to church members. These and other findings (e.g., gender) were particularly interesting and suggest that relationships between sociodemographic factors, church involvement and church support are more complex than previously thought.
This study drew upon previous work indicating that participation in religious congregations is an important factor for being involved in support networks—that is, persons who are active in churches (e.g., frequent church attendance) are more likely to exchange support. Church attendance as a general measure of involvement in religious settings was used under the assumption that people who invest significant amounts of time and effort attending religious services are likely immersed in a system of mutual obligations and will accrue support benefits from their involvement. In addition, church attendance is a proxy for several possible factors that are operating simultaneously. For example, regular attendance also provides repeated opportunities to be exposed to religious messages that reinforce a sense of caring for others and engaging in mutually supportive relationships. Further, service attendance and interaction with others can be useful for indicating the need for support, either overtly as in asking for help or by passive observation of another’s behaviors, physical appearance and demeanor. In this study, more frequent church attendance was predictive of exchanges of instrumental support (the one exception was receiving help with chores), clearly verifying its importance as a facilitator of both receiving and providing church support.
When interpreting findings for sociodemographic factors, it is important to acknowledge that church attendance was controlled for in all regression models. In other words, without statistical controls for church attendance, any observed significant effects for a given sociodemographic factor may actually be attributable to differences in underlying frequency of church attendance across levels of that factor. Region and age are particularly useful examples because Southern residency and older age are both associated with higher levels of organizational, non-organizational and private religious behaviors as compared to their counterparts. Our findings indicated that, net frequency of church attendance, age and region had few effects on support exchanges suggesting that a portion of their influence is mediated by level of service attendance.
The inclusion of measures of both providing and receiving church support paints with a clearer picture of how factors like material need (e.g., socioeconomic status) are associated with support exchanges with church members. Findings from the current study confirmed the logical perspective that persons with greater material need (e.g., lower income and education) would be the recipients of church support. However, contrary to expectations that they are less likely to provide assistance to others, we found that those with fewer years of education were more likely than those with more years of education to provide help to others. These and other findings verify the importance of examining both levels of instrumental assistance that is received from church members, as well as aid that respondents provide to others.
Finally, study limitations should be acknowledged. As a cross-sectional investigation, questions concerning changes in support exchanges cannot be answered and are best addressed using prospective approaches. The measures of instrumental support allowed us to examine different types of aid, but they are still general descriptions that are not linked to specific support recipients, providers or time frames. In light of these limitations, a particular strength of this study is that the use of the National Survey of American Life-Reinterview provided the opportunity to examine reciprocal exchanges of instrumental support involving church members within a large national sample of African Americans.
Conclusion
African Americans have a longstanding tradition of church-based informal social support. Overall, study findings confirm the importance of church-based support for African Americans and documents within group diversity as both recipients and providers of assistance. African Americans’ involvement in reciprocal instrumental support with church members is extensive; respondents are more likely to report that they are providers of support rather than recipients of assistance. Of the four types of instrumental support, assistance when ill was the most prevalent, followed by transportation, financial aid, and help with chores, for both received and given support. Sociodemographic factors identified specific groups that reported receiving and giving distinctive types of assistance. Finally, more frequent church attendance was associated with higher levels of all forms of support (except help with chores), which underscores the importance of involvement in faith communities for assistance. Additional research is needed to further clarify for whom, how, and in what specific ways church-based support is elicited and furnished.
Contributor Information
Robert Joseph Taylor, School of Social Work, University of Michigan.
Linda M. Chatters, School of Public Health and Social Work, University of Michigan
Karen Lincoln, Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California.
Amanda Toler Woodward, School of Social Work, Michigan State University.
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