Sunday, September 30, 2007

Are Religious People More Happy?


The Ennui of Saint Teresa

On average, religious people are much happer than nonreligious ones.

BY ARTHUR C. BROOKS Sunday, September 30, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT


For more than a half century, Mother Teresa of Calcutta was revered for her service to the poorest of the poor, and inspired people by the joy she apparently derived from pure faith and charity. But earlier this year, it was revealed that her faith and happiness might not have been all they seemed. In a newly published set of letters written over the course of her adult life, she expresses terrible sorrow about her life, describing it in terms of "dryness," "darkness" and "sadness."
For some commentators, this was evidence that if we scratch the surface of religious conviction--even that of a future saint--we will tend to find unhappiness, echoing H.L. Mencken's claim that "God is the immemorial refuge of the incompetent, the helpless, the miserable."
Does Mother Teresa's apparent misery truly expose an inconvenient truth about the happiness of religious people? A convincing answer to this question is not to be found in arguments for or against religion by believers or atheists--but rather in the abundant surveys that for years have anonymously asked people about their faith and life satisfaction. What story do the data tell?

Americans can be divided into three groups when it comes to religious practice. Surveys indicate that about 30% attend houses of worship at least once per week (I will call them "religious"), while about 20% are "secular"--never attending. The rest attend sometimes, but irregularly. These population dimensions have changed relatively little over the decades: Since the early 1970s, the religious group has not shrunk by more than two or three percentage points.
How do religious Americans compare to the secular when it comes to happiness? In 2004, the General Social Survey asked a sample of Americans, "Would you say that you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?" Religious people were more than twice as likely as the secular to say they were "very happy" (43% to 21%). Meanwhile, secular people were nearly three times as likely as the religious to say they were not too happy (21% to 8%). In the same survey, religious people were more than a third more likely than the secular to say they were optimistic about the future (34% to 24%).
The happiness gap between religious and secular people is not because of money or other personal characteristics. Imagine two people who are identical in every important way--income, education, age, sex, family status, race and political views. The only difference is that the first person is religious; the second is secular. The religious person will still be 21 percentage points more likely than the secular person to say that he or she is very happy.
Researchers have found similar results in other countries, suggesting that the connection between happiness and faith probably doesn't depend on nationality. Nor does it depend on the particular faith practiced. The 2000 Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey shows that practicing Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Muslims and people from other religions--even esoteric and New Age faiths--are all far more likely than secularists to say they are happy. Furthermore, it does not matter if we measure faith in ways other than how often people go to their house of worship. For example, people who pray every day are a third likelier to be very happy than those who never pray, whether or not they attend services.
What about the folks in the middle, who identify with a faith but practice inconsistently? They are generally happier than secular people, but not as happy as regular practitioners. There is an interesting twist here, however, when it comes to the fear of death. One recent study on a sample of older Americans finds that, by the time people are in their 70s, religious and secular people are less afraid of the grave than those in the middle, suggesting that people suffer when their religious practice is inconsistent with their faith.

Obviously, not all religious people are happy--millions are not. Researchers in one 2006 study found that what makes some religious people unhappy is an image of God as severe, unloving or distant. The study shows that regular churchgoers who feel "very close to God" are 27% more likely to be very happy than churchgoers who do not feel very close to God. This may have been the trouble for Mother Teresa.
Unhappy religious folks are the exception to the rule, however, and the percentage gaps in happiness identified here still translate into many, many more millions of contented churchgoers than nonbelievers. Based on the current American population, we can roughly estimate that about 67 million American adults are "very happy." About 25 million of these folks are religious--but only eight million are secular.
All in all, there is no good reason to doubt the claim that religion is associated with happiness for most people. Mother Teresa was atypical in her service and charity. But she was also atypical in her sadness, in spite of her religious life.
Mr. Brooks, a professor at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Public Affairs and a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, is the author of "Who Really Cares" (Basic Books, 2006).

6 comments:

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Anonymous said...

I agree that people who have religion as a part of their life are happier than those who don't. Generally speaking, religious people practice good moral values. I have yet to meet someone who has good standards and is not happy.

Nothing more to say really... that's just my opinion and I need extra credit. :)

Anonymous said...

First about the Mother Teresa thing I believe that anybody that truly believes in their faith would question it sometimes. If you didn't question it how could you really believe because then you would just be stupid and follow what everybody tells you.

The fact that religious people are very happy and secular people aren't as much could have something to do with the possibility that secular people are more of realist. Religious people would probably have a different view of the world. Churchgoers that are closer to god believe they have a better chance of going to heaven and the people that don't feel close to god are probably scared of wrath god could have on them. In the end the article can show us some stuff but I doubt most people are religious because it will make them happy. A better survey would be to ask people why they are religious.

Anonymous said...

Religion is something the majority of Americans share. America is a highly religious country and was founded on religious ideals. Nearly every religion in the world is represented in some way or another in our country. American religious institutions are large, powerful, and extremely influential in social and political life. Even Americans who are members of no established religion are likely to believe in God. An estimated 98% of American citizens believe in some kind of 'god'. Religious citizens, by most, are viewed as the responsible, caring and overall good people in society. We have seen this play out from who we associate ourselves with to who we elect to run our country. Being agnostic or even ATHEIST (!) is looked down on in our society. The people who are unsure of their religious stance are usually thought to be "lost" or just someone who doesn't care. This is most likely not the case. Atheists and those unsure of religious standing are usually pretty happy too. Sure statistics can be thrown out against them, and who knows, maybe they are less happy, but I do believe that different people are happy for different reasons. I think one key reason that religious people are said to be happier is that religion provides a sense of belonging, togetherness. Religion provides a social cushion as well as a personal. Since it is socially acceptable to be a religious person I believe this gives the person reason to be happy with them self. Religion leads people to believe there is someone (or thing) looking out for them, keeping them safe and granting them things they ask for, whether alone or in their large conformist group. I do think that happiness has a lot to do with why people are happy, but I do think that this article portrays the "secular" people to seem unhappy. I personally know many secular people. I live with religious parents and an atheist brother. I see them both extremely happy with how they stand with God and with life in general. I believe that you can choose to be happy whether you are religious or not.

Anonymous said...

I want to know what their definition of very happy is. Being religous gives more happiness to some because they believe that this world doesn't matter as much at the one on where we are going next. That we live this life not for us, but for God. I think that Mother Theresea was a wonderful person and that everyone does question their faith. She was compassionate to the world adn helped so many. But maybe why she was depressed was because she was trying be compassionate to be with God, not because God wanted her too. I believe that if you look in your heart and believe what you can and want to believe, and truely mean it and stick with it. You will be happy. For a majority, it just happens to be religion and God that they believe in adn makes them happy and gets them through the next day.

Anonymous said...

I don't like the word religious. Why? Because I don't believe someone needs to be religious to have what they really need in life...a relationship with God. I don't view myself as religious, but as having an amazing relationship with my Lord.

To answer the question "Are religious people more happy", I would have to say, no. I do believe, though, that those who have a true relationship with God are extremely more happy and content with life than those lost and without that relationship. They know that this short lifetime on earth is nothing compared to the eternity in heaven after death. I know that I am usually the happiest when I am worshipping God.