The spirit of capitalism? Religious doctrine, values, and economic attitude constructs

This article examines the relationship between conservative Protestant doct rine and economic policy attitudes. Building upon Weber's (1930) classic (a nd controversial) thesis that Calvinist thought inspired the "capitalist sp irit," we posit that the individualistic theology of fundamentalists, evang elicals, and charismatics often engenders political preferences for individ ualistic economic policies. We test this hypothesis by (1) performing a ser ies of cross-sectional ordered probit analyses to understand the independen t degree of association between doctrinal belief and economic attitudes tow ard taxing, spending, and the role of government, (2) creating and testing a structural equation model to assess various hypothesized paths of influen ce, and finally, (3) using 1994-96 NES panel data to assess the degree to w hich changes in an individual's doctrinal beliefs produce changes in his or her economic attitudes. Results lend substantial support to the efficacy o f Weber's thesis, and point to religious belief as one exogenous agent of c ore political values.