Religion und Sozialintegration

This paper examines the role of religion as a source of social capital in Germany. In addition to networks of civic engagement and informal social connections with family and friends, the identity- and status-bridging nature of these networks are also considered. Results based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) suggest that both, subjective religiosity and public religious practice, have a positive impact on social integration in Germany. But religious traditions – Catholicism, Protestantism, other Christians and Islam – differ in this regard. While attending religious services leads to larger friendship networks and increased sociability in all religions, civic engagement is only fostered by Christian religiosity and in particular Protestantism. However, none of the religious traditions encourages identity- or status-bridging social capital.