An analysis of the relationship of fraternity membership with members' measured spiritual, religious, and charitable variables

The purpose of the study was to examine the association between fraternity membership and members’ levels of spirituality, religiosity, and other variables. Data from the 2004-2007 "College Students' Beliefs and Values" (CSBV) longitudinal survey instrument from the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) were used to carry out the study. Propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to compare fraternity members and non-members’ spirituality, religiousness, and related qualities. Using PSM helped reduce differences among the treatment status, or fraternity membership, before regressing on the measured scores of spiritual, religiosity, and other factors. Fraternity ritual, the moral and ethical foundations of many Greek letter organizations, often is cited as the positive ideal of the organization (Brooks, 1967; Callais, 2005; McMinn, 1979). The findings from the study provided evidence that there was not a relationship between fraternity memberships and members’ levels of spirituality, religiosity, and other factors except for Charitable Involvement, which is defined as “a behavioral measure that includes activities such as participating in community service, donating money to charity, and helping friends with personal problems” (Spirituality in Higher Education, 2010a). College student affairs practitioners can utilize this research to enhance programming for both fraternity and non-affiliated men