Determinants of Parishioner Satisfaction among Practicing Catholics

Sociology of Religion, Summer, 2000 by Mark Peyrot, Francis M. Sweeney

Mark Peyrot [*]

This study examined determinants of satisfaction with the parish among practicing Catholics in Baltimore City. Data were obtained from questionnaires completed by respondents (N = 7658) in 28 urban parishes. Respondents who were older, female, married, and less educated were more satisfied. African Americans had lower levels of satisfaction. Positive perceptions of parish life were associated with higher satisfaction. Demographic variables accounted for only 4 percent of the variance in satisfaction, while perceptions of parish life accounted for an additional 34 percent of the variance. The rating of the pastor and a measure of moral and spiritual impact were the strongest predictors. Contextual analysis showed that respondents in smaller parishes were more satisfied and those with more African Americans had more positive parish perceptions. The results suggest that parish satisfaction is a complex phenomenon and represents an important aspect of parish life.

Most research on religious beliefs and attitudes has had an institutional focus. Religious researchers have been more interested in how people relate to the broad doctrinal and ethical positions of their churches and denominations than in how they fit into their local congregations. Recently, a number of studies have begun to focus more on the local context of the parish or synagogue since it is normally there that people have their primary religious experience and maintain a sense of identification with the larger institutional church (Gremillion and Castelli 1987; Pargament et al. 1979a). Little is known about how people experience their involvement in parish life, what the relevant dimensions are, and how these figure in the overall evaluation of the quality of parish life. We propose to examine these phenomena, focusing on how parish perceptions influence overall satisfaction with the parish.

Parishioner satisfaction is multidimensional (Silverman et al. 1983), suggesting that a measure focusing on assessment of a single aspect of parish life would be inadequate. Therefore, we use as a measure of satisfaction the degree to which the parish meets the "religious needs" of the parishioner, without identifying a specific type of need. This approach allows us to determine the relationship which parishioner perceptions of different aspects of parish life have with satisfaction. These aspects of parish life represent both intrinsic elements, such as personal spiritual and moral impact, and extrinsic aspects, such as parish leadership, outreach, and cohesion (Donahue 1985).

DETERMINANTS OF SATISFACTION

Demographics

Research has identified several demographic factors associated with religious beliefs. Persons who are older, female, and married have higher church involvement (Argyle and Beit-Hallahmi 1975; Leege and Trozzolo 1985; Stolzenberg et al. 1995). Education is positively related to religious participation (Stolzenberg et al. 1995), although it also is associated with higher secularization, as reflected in lower religious salience, commitment, devotion, and belief (Leege and Trozzolo 1985). The implications for parish satisfaction are unclear.

Research consistently shows that African Americans are more religious than Caucasians (Ellison 1991; Ploch and Hastings 1995; Taylor et al. 1996). Indicators of religiosity which demonstrate this pattern include beliefs, importance of religion, membership in religious organizations, and worship attendance. The importance of the church for African Americans has been linked to its centrality as a social institution, its status as a cultural haven, its role in civil rights, and its function in helping congregants to cope with difficult life situations (Baer and Singer 1992; Lincoln and Mimiya 1990).

Religious Perceptions

Four key areas of parish experience were examined to determine the extent to which positive ratings of specific aspects of parish life are related to overall satisfaction with the parish.

Pastor. The Notre Dame Study found a relationship between positive feelings towards one's pastor and parishioner attachment (Gremillion and Castelli 1987). Leadership characteristics of pastors are associated with satisfaction (Maloney 1989; McKenney 1979). Our measure of pastor perception includes moral, social, and organizational components in an effort to capture all the relevant elements of the pastoral role.

Community. This represents an extrinsic element of religiosity (Donahue 1985) which may have little to do with spirituality. Nevertheless, sense of community is positively associated with satisfaction (Latham and Lichtman 1984; Maloney 1989; Silverman et al. 1983). People are satisfied with the parish if it meets important human needs other than spirituality.

Outreach. This construct deals with one's assessment of how well the parish is addressing neighborhood and other special needs. Some research has found that the belief that one's religion involves a commitment to public works is associated with more volunteering (Regnerus and Smith 1995; Sappington and Baker 1995). There is no history of research on the relationship of this construct to satisfaction with the parish, but we believe that respondents will be more satisfied if they feel the parish is fulfilling its social mission.