ABSTRACT The digital divide refers to the differential patterns of Internet access adoption and usage across different segments of populations. The digital divide has been linked to demographic variables such as age and gender, and socioeconomic characteristics such as education and income. Using a nationally representative Canadian survey (N = 27,223) conducted in 2013, this paper investigates whether religiosity has an independent effect on the digital divide, accounting for the previously validated predictors of Internet use. Religiosity is found to negatively associate with Internet access and activity, controlling for a large set of characteristics such as age, ethnicity, education, and income. The religiosity-related gaps in the usage patterns appear to indicate lifestyle differences for those without any tie with religion compared with the individuals of average religiosity. For the very religious, the gaps indicate that they utilize the Internet for social networking less than others. Various implications are discussed.

中文翻译：

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加拿大的宗教信仰和数字鸿沟

摘要 数字鸿沟是指不同人群在互联网接入采用和使用方面的差异模式。数字鸿沟与年龄和性别等人口变量以及教育和收入等社会经济特征有关。本文使用 2013 年进行的具有全国代表性的加拿大调查 (N = 27,223)，调查宗教信仰是否对数字鸿沟具有独立影响，并考虑了先前验证的互联网使用预测因素。宗教信仰被发现与互联网访问和活动呈负相关，控制了大量特征，如年龄、种族、教育和收入。使用模式中与宗教信仰相关的差距似乎表明，与具有平均宗教信仰的人相比，与宗教没有任何联系的人的生活方式存在差异。对于非常虔诚的人来说，差距表明他们比其他人更少地利用互联网进行社交。讨论了各种影响。