{"id":14159,"date":"2023-10-27T09:58:47","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T13:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=14159"},"modified":"2023-10-27T09:58:47","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T13:58:47","slug":"new-study-reveals-religiosity-is-linked-to-positive-well-being-outcomes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2023\/10\/new-study-reveals-religiosity-is-linked-to-positive-well-being-outcomes.html","title":{"rendered":"New Study Reveals Religiosity is Linked to Positive Well-Being Outcomes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"religiosity\"<\/a>
Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A recent study revealed that religious people tend to have better mental health results than their non-religious counterparts, a more pronounced phenomenon in more religious countries. In conjunction with the Radiant Foundation, Gallup released a new report called \u201cFaith & Wellness: The Worldwide Connection Between Spirituality & Well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on interviews of 1.5 million people across 152 countries conducted as part of the Gallup World Poll from 2012 to 2022, the study compared scores of religious and non-religious people<\/a> on indexes designed to measure an individual\u2019s well-being. On the positive experience index, which asks people if they\u2019ve smiled or laughed a lot, experienced enjoyment, been treated with respect, or learned something, religious people scored 69, slightly higher than the non-religious average score of 65.<\/p>\n

The survey emphasized that \u201ceach one-point difference represents an effect for an estimated 40 million adults worldwide.\u201d Therefore, the report claims, \u201cAn estimated 160 million more adults have positive experiences than would be the case if those adults were not religious.\u201d Similarly, religious people had an average score of 77.6 on the social life index, while non-religious people had an average score of 73.7. The social life index measures whether people are satisfied with their \u201copportunity to meet people and make friends\u201d and have people they can \u201ccall on\u201d if they\u2019re in trouble.<\/p>\n

Religious people had an average score of 49.4 on the optimism index, slightly ahead of the non-religious crowds\u2019 48.4. The optimism index examines whether people feel positively about their lives in five years, if they think their standard of living is improving and if they think the local economy is improving. On the community basics index, which samples people\u2019s opinions about their housing, infrastructure, and environment, religious people had an average score of 59.7, while non-religious people\u2019s average score was 55.7. For three additional well-being indexes, the difference between non-religious and religious people showed no meaningful difference.<\/p>\n

The likelihood to classify themselves as either \u201csuffering\u201d or \u201cthriving\u201d on the life evaluation scale and the local economic confidence index that measures people\u2019s feelings about local economic conditions. Only on the negative experience index, which measures the frequency with which an individual experienced sadness, worry, anger, stress, and physical pain on the previous day, and the personal health index, which asked people if they had health issues, felt well-rested and felt physical pain, worry and sadness most of the previous day, did religious people score worse than the non-religious group.<\/p>\n

In every well-being index examined, religious people scored better than non-religious in more religious countries, although there were no meaningful differences in scores on the negative experience index and the local economic confidence index. In moderately religious countries, religious respondents scored better on six out of nine indexes, including the optimism index, where the difference was not meaningful. In those countries, the non-religious scored higher than the religious on the life evaluation and personal health indexes.<\/p>\n

The differences between religious and non-religious respondents\u2019 average scores on the life evaluation indexes and the personal health index in moderately religious countries were not meaningful. In less religious countries, including the United States, religious people score higher on the community basics index than non-religious. In these countries, the non-religious score better on the negative experience and personal health indexes, mirroring the overall results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent study revealed that religious people tend to have better mental health results than their non-religious counterparts, a more pronounced phenomenon in more religious countries. In conjunction with the Radiant Foundation, Gallup released a new report called \u201cFaith & Wellness: The Worldwide Connection Between Spirituality & Well-being.\u201d Based on interviews of 1.5 million people…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":14165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[741,4],"tags":[1488,981],"class_list":["post-14159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith","category-inspiring-messages","tag-religion","tag-well-being"],"yoast_head":"\nNew Study Reveals Religiosity is Linked to Positive Well-Being Outcomes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A recent study revealed that religious people have better mental health results than their non-religious counterparts.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2023\/10\/new-study-reveals-religiosity-is-linked-to-positive-well-being-outcomes.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Study Reveals Religiosity is Linked to Positive Well-Being Outcomes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A recent study revealed that religious people have better mental health results than their non-religious counterparts.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2023\/10\/new-study-reveals-religiosity-is-linked-to-positive-well-being-outcomes.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Inspiration Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-27T13:58:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" 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