Sometimes the gaps are striking: In the U.S., for instance, 36% of the actively religious describe themselves as “very happy,” compared with 25% of the inactively religious and 25% of the unaffiliated. Here are five findings about the relationship between religion and health, happiness and civic engagement:ġ Actively religious people are more likely than their less-religious peers to describe themselves as “very happy” in about half of the countries surveyed. To shed more light on this question, researchers divided survey-takers into three categories: the “actively religious,” who identify with a religion and attend a house of worship at least monthly the “inactively religious,” who identify with a religion but attend less frequently and the unaffiliated (or “nones”), who do not identify with any religion. But are religiously active people better off than those who are religiously inactive or those with no religious affiliation? The short answer is that there is some evidence that religious participation does make a difference in some – but not all – of these areas, according to a new Pew Research Center report that looks at survey data from the United States and more than two dozen other countries. Studies have often credited religion with making people healthier, happier and more engaged in their communities.
