When Watching Religious TV is Like Attending Church

An investigation of the relationship between the use of religious TV & church attendance, using data from a national survey (N = 1,553 Rs) collected by the Gallup Organization in Nov 1978. Three models concerning this relationship were compared: (1) the persuasion model, ie, viewing increases attendance via messages that encourage attendance; (2) the informational needs model, ie, attendance increases viewing, thus meeting the need for religious information (generated in the interpersonal context); & (3) the functional similarity model, ie, viewing decreases attendance, & vice versa, as they serve similar functions & therefore satiate the same needs. A multiple regression analysis, controlling for demographic & religious factors, supported functional similarity, which was substantiated in separate analyses of Protestants & Catholics; where functional similarity between attendance & viewing was high (among Protestants), they were significantly & negatively related; this was not the case where it was low (among Catholics). Religious radio, which is less functionally similar to church attendance than religious TV, was unrelated to church attendance, while reading the Bible was significantly & positively related to church attendance. 1 Table, 23 References. Modified AA