Organizational religious behavior among older African Americans: findings from the National Survey of American Life.

The authors used data from the older African American subsample of the National Survey of American Life (n = 837) to examine the sociodemographic and denominational correlates of organizational religious involvement among older African Americans. Six measures of organizational religious participation were used, including two measures of time allocation for organized religious pursuits. Significant gender, regional, marital status, and denominational differences in organizational religiosity were found. Of particular note, although older Black women generally displayed higher levels of religious participation, older Black men spent more hours per week in other activities at their places of worship. The findings are discussed in relation to prior work in the area of religious involvement among older adults. New directions for research on religious time allocation are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]