ABSTRACT

This book, first published in 1991, examines the unreligious of America. Most sociologists of religion viewed religious belief and behaviour as having strong positive function for individual well-being – with the implicit assumption that unreligious individuals would lack meaning in life. This book applies statistical approaches to modelling causality as it analyses a controversial topic in American sociology.

chapter Chapter 1|32 pages

Introduction

chapter Chapter 2|40 pages

Defining the Unreligious

chapter Chapter 3|37 pages

A Sociological Profile of the Unreligious

chapter Chapter 4|25 pages

The Psychological Well-Being of the Unreligious

chapter Chapter 5|61 pages

Meaning and Purpose Orientations Among the Unreligious

chapter Chapter 6|43 pages

Explanations for Being and Becoming Unreligious

chapter Chapter 7|15 pages

Summary and Discussion of Roads Untaken

chapter Appendix A|11 pages

Description of Other Unreligious Groups

chapter Appendix B|4 pages

Supplementary Tables