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In backward countries, religion brings a sense of fulfillment
Last reviewed: 30.06.2025
The higher the quality of life in a country, the smaller the gap in life satisfaction between believers and non-believers.
A group of scientists, headed by American psychologist Ed Diener, professor at the University of Illinois, conducted a study of the relationship between happiness and religiosity of people in different countries of the world. They used data from 2005-2009 from the Gallup World Poll, conducted in more than 150 countries; we are talking about questions concerning religious affiliation, life satisfaction, respect of others, social support, positive and negative feelings.
Previous similar studies have not had a global scope, being limited to individual countries (mainly the USA). Their authors, based on the data obtained, often concluded that religious people are happier than atheists. However, as Ed Diener and colleagues argue, the general picture is as follows.
In the most dysfunctional societies (where hunger is common and life expectancy is low), believers are significantly happier. Religion gives people the support and respect of others, as well as a subjective sense of life satisfaction (as is evident from the answers to relevant questions in the Gallup World Poll). The better the social welfare system, health care, and education in a country, the lower the unemployment and crime rates, the smaller the difference in how happy believers and non-believers feel. The gap virtually disappears in countries with the highest living standards.
There is also an inverse relationship between quality of life and the percentage of people who say religion is very important to them. This pattern holds even within the United States: in one of the most backward states in all respects, Mississippi, 88% are religious, while in one of the most prosperous, Vermont, it is 44% (the world average is 68%). President Obama was right when he claimed (as a candidate) that so-called rednecks "turned to Jesus and guns" out of desperation.
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