Religious beliefs and social class identification: micro evidence from China

Abstract

Abstract Background Residents’ sense of social class identity is of great significance for enhancing self-happiness and maintaining social stability. As a spiritual force, religious beliefs can significantly influence residents’ subjective perceptions. Methods Based on this, using data from the 2021 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS 2021), this paper explores the impact of religious beliefs on residents’ sense of social class identity through the probit model and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method, and analyzes potential mechanisms. Results The baseline regression results indicate that religious beliefs significantly enhance residents’ sense of social class identity(p < 0.05), a conclusion that holds true even after rigorous robustness tests. Furthermore, female residents(p < 0.05), residents with lower education levels(p < 0.05), and those who believe in domestic religions(p < 0.05) exhibit higher social class identification compared to those who believe in foreign religions. Mechanism analysis suggests that economic capital and social capital play mediating roles, indicating that religious beliefs enhance the economic(p < 0.01) and social capital of believers(p < 0.01), thereby increasing their sense of social class identity. Conclusions Therefore, this paper suggests respecting residents’ religious beliefs, while religious organizations should actively adapt to the needs of social development, providing spiritual comfort and moral guidance to residents.

Keywords

• Religious beliefs
• Economic capital
• Social capital
• Social class identification