Open research questions in Religion and Society Interactions

What the literature leaves open

• at 318-19, was rejected for lack of evidence that this was the import of the Biblical phase.

  Disestablished religion in Pennsylvania and Kentucky: A study in Constitutional interpretation∗ · 1987 · DOI

• Future research should continue to explore the approach of multiple secularities. The study of secular-religious contestations and the relocation of religious authority outside traditional religious institutions should be further developed. The paper's findings highlight the need for further research on the material dimension of religious-secular contestations.

  From Religious Decline to Relocations of Religion. Recent Trends in Sociological Research on Religion and the Secular in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of secularization, secularism, and secularity in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The author notes that the focus on individual religiosity and its decline cannot adequately grasp collectivistic notions of religion.

  From Religious Decline to Relocations of Religion. Recent Trends in Sociological Research on Religion and the Secular in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland · 2026 · DOI

• The legitimacy of state support for religion has become increasingly contested. There is a need to understand the shifting grounds of religious legitimacy in contemporary Norwegian politics.

  Why Religion Matters (Or Doesn’t) · 2026 · DOI

• Future research could explore the mechanisms by which Catholic saints influence corruption. Future research could examine the impact of other religious leaders on corruption.

  Religion and corruption: Are there any saints? · 2026 · DOI

• The literature has not fully explored the impact of Catholic saints on corruption. There is a gap in understanding the relationship between Catholicism and corruption.

  Religion and corruption: Are there any saints? · 2026 · DOI

• There is a lack of research on the shared characteristics of identity-centered religious and political movements with biopolitical agendas. There is a need to explore the impact of these movements on civil society and bioethical institutions.

  Conspiracy theory as a component of religious biopolitics · 2026 · DOI

• The gap between social justice and scientific empiricism in social work. The lack of understanding of the links between epistemology, spirituality, and an ethic of social justice.

  Evidence Cannot Fill the God-Shaped Hole · 2026 · DOI

• There is a lack of understanding about the interplay between religious identity and abortion viewpoints. Prior studies have not explored the differences in abortion attitudes among different religious groups.

  Religious Identity and Abortion Attitudes Among University Students in the Post-Roe v. Wade Era · 2026 · DOI

• Future research could explore the application of the framework of pluriconfessional secularization in other regions. It could examine the impact of migration and technology on religious diversity and secular governance. Further study could investigate the role of religious institutions in shaping democratic outcomes.

  Secular governance and religious diversity in Western, Central, Eastern Europe, and Latin America: Comparative challenges and emerging models · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in the existing literature on secularization and religious diversity. It notes that traditional secularization paradigms are insufficient for understanding the complex relationships between religion and democracy in contemporary societies.

  Secular governance and religious diversity in Western, Central, Eastern Europe, and Latin America: Comparative challenges and emerging models · 2026 · DOI

• The complexity and nuance of the Bahá'í Faith's understanding of race. The influence of the community's spiritual destiny and hermeneutics on its discourse on race. The need to empirically examine the magazine's discursive construction of race.

  Confronting Culture and Caste in the American Bahá’í Magazine World Order , 1935–1949 · 2026 · DOI

• The need to understand how the American Bahá'í community's discourse on race was constructed and influenced by its spiritual destiny and hermeneutics. The lack of empirical accounts of how religious movements' scripture engage with race.

  Confronting Culture and Caste in the American Bahá’í Magazine World Order , 1935–1949 · 2026 · DOI

• Further research could explore the application of the concept of religious alief to other religious phenomena. Further research could investigate the implications of the concept of religious alief for our understanding of religious practices.

  Religious Alief · 2026 · DOI

• Traditional philosophy of religion has been criticized for its focus on belief. The concept of alief has not yet been systematically applied to topics in philosophy of religion.

  Religious Alief · 2026 · DOI

• No work exists examining how the distinction between ex-Christian and lifelong nonbelievers impacts ideology or political beliefs. The study aims to fill this gap by investigating the ideological and political differences between ex-Christian members of the nonreligious community and lifelong nonbelievers.

  Leftward March from Church: Ideology Among Ex-Christian vs Lifelong Nonreligious Americans · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should continue to examine the relationship between Black religious socialization and political attitudes. Future research should investigate how other salient identities, such as gender and class, inform political decision-making. Future research should explore the implications of the paper's findings for political organizing and coalition building.

  Examining Religious and Racial Identity for Black Christians and Muslims in the United States · 2026 · DOI

• The growing diversity in the Black community means that conventional theories of Black politics may not be sufficient. There is a need to examine the relationship between Black religious socialization and political attitudes. The paper identifies a gap in the literature on Black politics, which has not fully considered the role of religion in shaping political attitudes.

  Examining Religious and Racial Identity for Black Christians and Muslims in the United States · 2026 · DOI

• There is a discrepancy between the declaration and the conscious participation that is its practical confirmation. The study aims to investigate the relationship between declaration, knowledge, and involvement in the life of Polish parishes and institutions.

  Between Declaration and Commitment. The Religious Practices of Young Polish Emigrants in the United Kingdom · 2026 · DOI

• The study faces the challenge of overcoming terminological fragmentation and conceptual vagueness in the field. The researchers must consider the complex and nuanced nature of political indoctrination. The authors must address the lack of comparable empirical data in the field.

  The evolution of scientific approaches to the study of political indoctrination: a conceptual analysis · 2026 · DOI

• Conceptual vagueness and the lack of comparable empirical data have traditionally served as major obstacles to systematic research in this field. The study aims to address the gap in understanding the role of ideology in shaping public consciousness and voluntary consent.

  The evolution of scientific approaches to the study of political indoctrination: a conceptual analysis · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in understanding how religious discourse survived in communist Romania. The research aims to fill this gap by analyzing strategies of dissimulation and resignification of the sacred content of religious journalistic texts.

  Strategies for the survival of religious discourse in communist Romania: a critical analysis of religious publicistic texts · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in understanding the historical context and significance of Descartes' ideas. The study aims to fill this gap by analyzing Descartes' works and their impact on academic circles.

  Szkice i obrazy Kartezjusza · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should continue to explore the implications of the "nones" phenomenon for traditional religious institutions. Future research should also examine the "nones" group in different cultural and societal contexts.

  „Nones” (bezwyznaniowi) jako wyzwanie dla tradycyjnych form przynależności religijnej · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of the "nones" phenomenon and its implications for traditional religious institutions. The paper also identifies a gap in the understanding of the "nones" group in the context of Polish society and culture.

  „Nones” (bezwyznaniowi) jako wyzwanie dla tradycyjnych form przynależności religijnej · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Religion and Society Interactions

• Globalization and Religious Nationalism: Self, Identity, and the Search for Ontological Security · Political Psychology · 2004 · 745 citations
• Why Strict Churches Are Strong · American Journal of Sociology · 1994 · 716 citations
• The nature of belief systems in mass publics (1964) · Critical Review · 2006 · 704 citations
• Religion and Economic Growth across Countries · American Sociological Review · 2003 · 695 citations
• Religion and Economy · The Journal of Economic Perspectives · 2006 · 658 citations
• God and the government: Testing a compensatory control mechanism for the support of external systems. · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · 2008 · 603 citations
• Prophecy and the near future: Thoughts on macroeconomic, evangelical, and punctuated time · American Ethnologist · 2007 · 594 citations
• Notes on Post‐Secular Society · New Perspectives Quarterly · 2008 · 589 citations
• Work in Progress Toward a New Paradigm for the Sociological Study of Religion in the United States · American Journal of Sociology · 1993 · 575 citations
• Belief in a just world: research progress over the past decade · Personality and Individual Differences · 2003 · 549 citations

Most recent work

• Understanding Neither Atheists Nor Religious: Religious Nones and Multiple Religious Believing in South Korea · Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion · 2026
• Pluralism in the Mind: Patterns and Predictors of Identifying With Multiple World Religions · Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion · 2026
• Exploring Religious Identities in 2020s China: Prevalence and Boundaries · Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion · 2026
• Culture wars and classism: Christian nationalism, economic position, and Americans’ approval of inequality · Social Forces · 2026
• What Would Jesus Fund? Christian Nationalism and Americans’ Views on Government Spending · Socius Sociological Research for a Dynamic World · 2026
• Multi‐Religiosity Among Asian Americans and Non‐Asian Americans · Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion · 2026
• Religious Participation Among African American Adolescents · Sociological Focus · 2026
• Americanizing the Reformation: American Christian Nationalism, History, and Selective Memory · Journal of the American Academy of Religion · 2026
• From Religious Decline to Relocations of Religion. Recent Trends in Sociological Research on Religion and the Secular in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland · KZfSS Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie · 2026
• Hyperpolarization, Distrust, and Civil Religions in America Today · Polity · 2026

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