Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

1171

Date

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Psychology

Concentration

General Psychology

Committee Chair

Leslie A. Robinson

Committee Member

James G. Murphy

Committee Member

Kenneth D. Ward

Abstract

Religiosity is a term used to describe how religious an individual is, and it encompasses religious activity, dedication, and belief. Previous research indicates that religiosity is protective against the initiation of smoking among adolescents; however, the possibility of ethnic differences in the relation between religiosity and adolescent smoking has not been explored. This study examines ethnic differences in religiosity in a bi-racial sample of 4,798 adolescents from an urban Mid-South school system. Results reveal that Blacks are significantly more religious than Whites. However, the relation between religiosity and smoking differs across ethnicity. Moderate and strong levels of religiosity are associated with smoking for Whites, whereas only strong levels of religiosity is associated with smoking for Blacks. These findings demonstrate that religiosity is more prevalent among Blacks, but the relation between religiosity and smoking is more powerful among Whites.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

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