Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Cross-national research on voluntary association involvement have shown clear differences in the likelihood that citizens of different countries participate. Many studies have stressed the importance of contemporaneous contextual differences, such as national wealth, political regimes, and religious traditions. We extend this research by introducing models that assess generational differences that have been discussed in the literature. More specifically, we evaluate hypotheses concerning a) the role of religious socialization, b) the role of television exposure, c) the role of war time experience, d) the impact of the length of exposure to communist rule, and e) the importance of aggregate levels of educational attainment. To test our hypotheses, we use multilevel analysis techniques on a concatenated dataset from 11 international surveys consisting over 200,000 individuals from 56 countries. Results show strong cohort effects. People who grew up in a devout society, without much exposure to television, without much war experience or exposure to a Communist regime, and among lower educated peers are more likely to participate in voluntary associations.