Comparing Confidence in Institutions among Latino and White Catholics and Evangelicals: Exploring Religious Differences

Abstract

Recent surveys reveal declines in the U.S. public’s confidence in various institutions. Although some studies link these declines to religious factors, few disaggregate these patterns across racial and ethnic groups. Here, we focus on Latinos—a growing segment of the U.S. population and an increasingly religiously diverse part of the electorate. Using original, nationally representative survey data (N=4,321), we compare Latino evangelicals and Catholics to their white counterparts in their confidence in five institutions (religious organizations, higher education, the scientific community, Congress, and the press). We find that Latino and white Catholics consistently show high levels of confidence across institutions relative to white evangelicals. Our findings suggest that there may be more similarities in institutional confidence among those of different racial and ethnic groups who share a similar religious tradition than those who are of the same race or ethnicity but share different religious traditions. Patterns observed highlight the importance of examining institutional confidence through an intersectional lens that considers religious diversity within and across racial and ethnic groups.