Religion and Cultural Integration: Vietnamese Catholics and Buddhists in Denmark

This article is based on a quantitative study of two rather distinct religious traditions (Buddhism and Christianity) sharing the same ethnic origin (Vietnamese) in the same host nation (Denmark). It investigates the possible relations between religion and acculturation, and looks at whether various forms of religiosity and religious belonging are plausible variables in acculturation perspectives. Our analyses suggest that there is a clear tendency that Catholics, on a number of variables, are more likely than Buddhists to be oriented towards own ethnic and religious identity, and that religion and religiosity seem to be negative factors in integration processes. However, we also conclude that a broader complex of variables defines the field of study, including type of religion, religious engagement, socialisation, and general relations to host culture.