instrumental approach to money makes it unlikely that Catholics will pursue more wealth once they have achieved a comfortable standard of living. Likewise, their conservative approach to saving and investing is unlikely to foster upward mobility beyond a certain point. It appears that Catholics may remain in a comfortable, middle-class purgatory.

big losers, great expectations

photo courtesy of Weight Watchers

When asked about their motives for losing weight, people in groups such as Weight Watchers or Overeaters Anonymous (OA) may offer pragmatic reasons such as lowering cholesterol, improving one’s health and fitness, being effective at one’s job, or becoming a meeting

Quick—name your state flower! You might have to turn to Google before answering. You might not remember whether your state’s flower is a scarlet carnation (Ohio) or a wild prairie rose (Iowa), but that does not mean the flower is not important. In an article on the adoption of state flowers, Kerry Dobransky and Gary Alan Fine (Sociological Forum, December 2006) note that the selection of a state flower can become quite heated. Take Indiana, which is now on its fourth state flower and may soon move to a fifth because of legislative haggling that began in 1913. While some states have chosen a less contentious path—for example, by letting a child select the state flower—others deal with powerful lobbying groups with a vested interest in seeing a particular flower emerge victorious. For example, Florida was pressured to select the orange blossom by (you guessed it) orange growers. According to Dobransky and Fine, conflict over state flowers reveals their power as symbols. Many of the conflicts erupt over whether a flower is actually native to a particular state. Botanists and historians are often consulted to decide whether a flower is indigenous or an import. The “nativeness” of a flower is significant most of the time, since the cultural choosers want to select an “authentic” representation of their state. Of course, as with other forms of politics, in floral politics, material resources also matter.

keeping the faith

leader. They may also offer stories about “possible selves,” hoping that weight loss will transform their lives. But what happens when losing weight does not create the desired self and fix such problems? Ellen Granberg (Social Psychology Quarterly, June 2006) explored this issue by interviewing 46 people who had lost moderate (less than 30 pounds) or significant (more than 100 pounds) amounts of weight and kept it off for at least three months. She found that possible selves can be powerful motivators for weight loss. Moreover, people who received feedback that their slimmed-down selves did not match their ideal images coped by altering how they judged themselves. These internal changes in self-image created a better match between their changed bodies, feedback about their identity from others, and what they thought of themselves. In the end, their great expectations about self-transformation gave way to an appreciation of more modest and subtle changes in the self, which serves as a model for sustainable self-change.

8

floral politics

contexts fall 2007

What impact does parental divorce during childhood have on young adults’ religious involvement? One explanation, based on spiritual modeling, takes the view that young people increase and mature spiritually by imitating spiritual exemplars, including their parents. Offspring from divorced parents would be more likely to lose an important role model and are less likely to have high levels of religious involvement. Another explanation, based on spiritual capital, takes the view that direct spiritual interactions are important for religious and spiritual socialization. This socialization includes active religious training, talking about spiritual issues, praying together, and encouragement to follow a particular religious tradition. Offspring from intact families are more likely to receive this type of socialization from both parents and are more likely to have high levels religious involvement. Jian Zhai, Christopher Ellison, Norval Glenn, and Elizabeth Marquardt (Sociology of Religion, Summer 2007) investigated whether these perspectives explain general religious involvement and particular behaviors and beliefs such as prayer and felt closeness to God. Using data from nearly 1,500 young adults, they com-