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Nondenominational Protestants: Do They More Closely Resemble Mainline, Evangelical, or Black Protestants in RELTRAD?

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Title: Nondenominational Protestants: Do They More Closely Resemble Mainline, Evangelical, or Black Protestants in RELTRAD?
Authors: Shelton, Jason E. (AUTHOR)
Source: Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). Mar2026, Vol. 65 Issue 1, p123-135. 13p.
Subjects: Church attendance, Religious identity, Protestantism, Protestants
Abstract: This study aims to determine whether different groups of nondenominational Protestants more closely resemble one of the three most widely recognized denominational families within American Protestantism: Mainline Protestants, Evangelical Protestants, and Black Protestants. Steensland et al.'s and Gaghan and Eagle's RELTRAD coding schemes are modified to include contested categories of nondenoms that are disaggregated by race and church attendance. Findings from the 2000–2022 General Social Surveys indicate that the coding schemes capture similar variation between Black nondenoms and members of historically Black Protestant denominational families. However, non‐Black nondenoms who attend less than once a year significantly differ from followers of historically Mainline Protestant denominations, and non‐Black nondenoms who attend more than once per month report more conservative religious sensibilities as well as political and social attitudes than members of historically Evangelical Protestant traditions. Such findings attest to both strengths and limitations within the RELTRAD taxonomies under analysis. Consequently, further research is needed to inform durable decisions regarding the treatment of data for non‐Black nondenoms in RELTRAD. Suggestions for improvement are offered—including what now appears to be arbitrary cut‐off points used to distinguish between nondenominational Protestants—in helping scholars produce more accurate statistical estimates for Protestants who do not affiliate with established traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) is the property of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: Nondenominational Protestants: Do They More Closely Resemble Mainline, Evangelical, or Black Protestants in RELTRAD?
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Church+attendance%22">Church attendance</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Religious+identity%22">Religious identity</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Protestantism%22">Protestantism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Protestants%22">Protestants</searchLink>
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  Label: Abstract
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  Data: This study aims to determine whether different groups of nondenominational Protestants more closely resemble one of the three most widely recognized denominational families within American Protestantism: Mainline Protestants, Evangelical Protestants, and Black Protestants. Steensland et al.'s and Gaghan and Eagle's RELTRAD coding schemes are modified to include contested categories of nondenoms that are disaggregated by race and church attendance. Findings from the 2000–2022 General Social Surveys indicate that the coding schemes capture similar variation between Black nondenoms and members of historically Black Protestant denominational families. However, non‐Black nondenoms who attend less than once a year significantly differ from followers of historically Mainline Protestant denominations, and non‐Black nondenoms who attend more than once per month report more conservative religious sensibilities as well as political and social attitudes than members of historically Evangelical Protestant traditions. Such findings attest to both strengths and limitations within the RELTRAD taxonomies under analysis. Consequently, further research is needed to inform durable decisions regarding the treatment of data for non‐Black nondenoms in RELTRAD. Suggestions for improvement are offered—including what now appears to be arbitrary cut‐off points used to distinguish between nondenominational Protestants—in helping scholars produce more accurate statistical estimates for Protestants who do not affiliate with established traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) is the property of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1111/jssr.70011
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 13
        StartPage: 123
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Church attendance
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Religious identity
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Protestantism
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Protestants
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: Nondenominational Protestants: Do They More Closely Resemble Mainline, Evangelical, or Black Protestants in RELTRAD?
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              Text: Mar2026
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              Y: 2026
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              Value: 65
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