In part five of my previous series on cosmology, I talked about some of the potential evolutionary explanations for the development of religion. Many of these evolutionary explanations are compelling, and it is likely that a combination of some or all of them may be right. But whatever the reasons for the evolution of religion, it is clear that religion offers practical, observable benefits to adherents, such as “improved health, survivorship, economic opportunities, sense of community, psychological well-being, assistance during crises, mating opportunities, and fertility.”¹ There is a large body of research showing a strong relationship between religiosity and a variety of positive outcomes.

Religiosity has a positive relationship with good physical health. Regular church attendance is associated with a twenty-five percent decrease in risk of mortality, even after accounting for confounding variables; religiosity and spirituality is also associated with decreased risk of cardiovascular disease (but religiosity does not appear to help with cancer or to help recovery from acute illness).² Religiosity and spirituality are associated with lower blood pressure and better immune function.³ Another study of elderly patients found a positive relationship between physical health (although the effects on mental health were greater) and religiosity and that non-religious and non-spiritual patients had worse health and higher morbidity.⁴ A meta-analysis of studies that examined the relationship between religious involvement and mortality found that greater religious involvement is associated with greater odds of survival.⁵ Another study concluded that a 20 year old who frequently attends church has a life expectancy of 83 years, whereas a 20 year old who does not attend church has a life expectancy of 75 years. This increased life expectancy appears to be caused by selection effects—unhealthy people are less likely to attend church—and also by increasing social ties and behavioral factors that decrease the risk of death.⁶ In studies examining the relationship between religion and health, “salutary effects of religious involvement persist despite an impressive array of statistical controls for social ties, health behaviors, and sociodemographic variables.”⁷

Religion also has a positive relationship with mental health. “[S]ystematic reviews of the research literature over the years have consistently reported that aspects of religious involvement are associated with desirable mental health outcomes.”⁸ Church attendance is indirectly related to improved physical health (through associated decreased substance abuse and increased mood) and directly increases subjective well-being.⁹ Higher religiousity and spirituality among elderly patients was positively associated with fewer depressive symptoms and better cognitive function.¹⁰ When people were asked what they were striving for in their lives, people with a larger number of spiritual goals had greater purpose in life, life satisfaction, and levels of well-being.¹¹ People with a more intrinsic religious orientation have better mental health, self-esteem, meaning in life, family relationships, and a feeling of well-being; they have lower levels of alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and sexual promiscuity.¹² Weekly church attendance has about the same significant positive effect on happiness as being married.¹³

Most of the above studies were conducted in the United States. Critics might point out that American culture is more religious than other developed nations and that the negative comparative effects of irreligion may come from the stress of being part of a minority group. Studies involving international samples, however, contradict this assumption. One study found that religiosity in the United States, Denmark, and Netherlands were all weakly associated with happiness (although the correlations in Europe were not statistically significant).¹⁴ A study of a representative sample of elderly adults in the Netherlands showed that even after adjusting for physical health, social support, alcohol use, and demographic variables, there was a consistent relationship between lower depression and regular church attendance.¹⁵ Using data from seventy countries from the World Values Survey, a person’s self-definition of being “a religious person” (versus being not religious or atheist) was positively associated with subjective personal life satisfaction. Membership in a country’s dominant religion had no effect on the relationship with life satisfaction, nor did a person’s membership in a minority religion. In other words the relationship did not seem to depend on whether a person was a member of the majority or minority religion, but on whether a person was religious.¹⁶ This relationship has apparently held across countries for several decades—in 1990 a study of sixteen countries found that the relationship between church attendance and a person’s happiness and life satisfaction “is not a uniquely American finding, but a general pattern that holds true” across the industrialized world, including in Europe, Canada, and Japan. As a whole in the countries examined, eight percentage points more of the people who attended church once a week were satisfied with their lives and nine percentage points more of those people were happy.¹⁷

Like all social science research, this research on the effects of religiosity will never be as conclusive as research in hard sciences such as physics and chemistry. Human beings are complicated, and it can be difficult to set up the regressions equations correctly and create an adequate model to take into account all of the relevant variables. In studies where we look at population-level data, it can be difficult to infer causality. It is difficult, and often impossible, to set up double-blind studies, or even studies with control populations, to let us analyze the effects of the independent variable we would like to study. One clever study, though, uses a natural experiment from the 1960s and 1970s in the United States that led to decreased church attendance. Many U.S. states used to have “blue laws” that prohibited commercial activity, such as retail, entertainment, and sports activities on Sunday. Blue laws were repealed throughout the 1960s and 1970s, often in response to court challenges (and thus not, apparently, because of declining religiosity among the population). These conditions allowed for a natural experiment to compare the behavior and happiness of people before and after the repeal of such blue laws. The repeal of state blue laws led to a decrease in church attendnace among white women (but not men). This decrease in church attendance was associated with a very significant and substantial negative effect on happiness in white women (but not men—the authors conclude that decreased church attendance explains much of the decrease in happiness that women have experienced, relative to men, since 1973).¹⁸ This research provides a strong indication that religiosity causes well-being, and not that happy people also tend to be religious.

What is responsible for the relationship between religion and well-being? Religion does not appear to have much of an effect on the “Big Five” major personality traits that psychologists use to describe human personalities (the Big Five traits are agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness). Religion does, however, seem to have “rather profound effects on midlevel personality functions such as values, goals, attitudes, and behaviors, as well as on the more self-defining personality functions of life meaning and personal identity.”¹⁹ Religion can provide hope and optimism, which in turn increases a person’s well-being.²⁰ We invest more care and attention into parts of our lives that we view as sacred, and those sacred aspects of our lives give greater life satisfaction and meaning. Religion serves as an orienting, motivating force that provides coping mechanisms (such as meditation and religious rituals) to adherents.²¹ Some scholars have concluded that the many of religion’s benefits come because it helps “solve significant communication problems inherent in human life.”²² Religions provide social support, companionship, and a sense of community.²³ Indeed, the social aspects of religion appear to have the greatest relationship with happiness (both in the more-religious United States and in secular Europe).²⁴ Social support from religion often leads to greater self-esteem and a sense of intrinsic self-worth among adherents and to a continuous support network from birth to death.²⁵ Religious support, however, seems to offer something greater than mundane social support—religious support has a strong relationship with psychological adjustment even after controlling for general social support.²⁶ It is likely that part of the health benefits associated with religion come from religion’s encouragement of healthy behaviors–people who attend church more often also tend have other characteristics that are associated with lower risk of dying, such as more physical activity, more social interactions, and being married.²⁷ These additional healthy behaviors do not explain all of the benefit, however, because a twenty-five percent reduction in risk of death still remains among churchgoers even after accounting for these other behaviors that are related to health.²⁸ This additional effect of religion appears in samples outside the United State as well: increased Church attendance was found to be associated with lower depression even after accounting for other explanatory variables.²⁹

Of course, religion is not all good. Religion can be a source of conflict and struggle. It can be hard to deal with a shattered worldview when you discover the religion you were raised in is not true. It is difficult to handle doubts about god’s existence after a tragedy or after discovering the logical fallacies and inconsistencies of the world’s theistic religions. Personal conflict with other members of your religious community can lead to social isolation and loneliness. Such religious struggles—whether they be internal struggles about your values, behaviors, and feelings; struggles with god and his existence; or even interpersonal struggles in a religious context—represent “a crucial fork in the road for many people, one that can lead in the direction of growth or to significant health problems.”³⁰

Religious and spiritual struggles are associated with negative physical and psychological health, such as “anxiety, depression, negative mood, poorer quality of life, panic disorder, . . . suicidality. . . . declines in physical recovery in medical rehabilitation patients, longer hospital stays, and greater risk of mortality following a medical illness.”³¹ On the other hand, religious and spiritual struggles are also associated with “positive outcomes, such as stress-related growth, spiritual growth, open-mindedness, self-actualization, and lower levels of prejudice.. . . How well the individual is able to resolve these struggles may hold the key to which road is taken.”³² Reasonable religion means adopting a more mature, intelligent approach to religion to minimize the likelihood of having religious struggles and to develop the intellectual and emotional tools to work through struggles. After all, in spite of the potential pitfalls, in general religion is a very beneficial force in most people’s lives.

Footnotes

1Richard Sosis and Candace Alcorta, “Signaling, solidarity, and the sacred: the evolution of religious behavior,” Evolutionary Anthropology Vol. 12, No. 6, pp. 264, 2003, Nov. 2003, http://dx.doi.org10.1002%2Fevan.10120,
http://www.anth.uconn.edu/faculty/sosis/publications/sosisandalcortaEA.pdf.

2Lynda H. Powell, Leila Shahabi, and Carl E. Thoresen, “Religion and spirituality: Linkages to physical health,” American Psychologist, Vol. 58, No. 1, pp. 36-52, January 2003, http://psycnet.apa.org/?&fa=main.doiLanding&doi=10.1037/0003-066X.58.1.36, http://www.uic.edu/classes/psych/Health/Readings/Powell,%20Religion,%20spirituality,%20health,%20AmPsy,%202003.pdf.

3Teresa E. Seeman, Linda Fagan Dubin, and Melvin Seeman, “Religiosity/Spirituality and Health : A Critical Review of the Evidence for Biological Pathways ,” American Psychologist, Vol. 58, No. 1, 53-63, January 2003, http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/amp/58/1/53/, http://www.uic.edu/classes/psych/Health/Readings/Seeman,%20Religiosity-health,%20bio%20pathways,%20AmPsy,%202003.pdf.

4Harold G. Koenig, Linda K. George, Patricia Titus, “Religion, spirituality, and health in medically ill hospitalized older patients.” Journal of the American Geriatric Society, Vol. 52, No. 4, pp. 554-62, April 2004, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15066070,

5Peter C. Hill and Kenneth I. Pargament, “Advances in the Conceptualization and Measurement of Religion and Spirituality: Implications for Physical and Mental Health Research ,” American Psychologist, Vol. 58, No. 1, 64–74 at 66, January 2003, http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/amp/58/1/64/, http://www.uic.edu/classes/psych/Health/Readings/Hill,%20Conceptualization%20of%20spirituality,%20AmPsy,%202003.pdf.

6Robert A. Hummer, Richard G. Rogers, Charles B. Nam, and Christopher G. Ellison, “Religious involvement and U.S. adult mortality,” Demography, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 273-285, 1999, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10332617.

7Christopher G. Ellison and Jeffrey S. Levin, “The Religion-Health Connection: Evidence, Theory, and Future Directions ,” Health Education & Behavior, Vol. 25, No. 6, pp. 700-720 at 702, December 1998, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9813743, https://sph.uth.edu/course/occupational_envHealth/bamick/RICE%20-%20Weis%20398/ellison_religion.pdf.

8Same.

9Laura B. Koenig and George E. Vaillant, “A prospective study of church attendance and health over the lifespan,” Health Psychology, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 117-24, January 2009, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19210025.

10Harold G. Koenig, Linda K. George, and Patricia Titus, “Religion, spirituality, and health in medically ill hospitalized older patients.” Journal of the American Geriatric Society, Vol. 52, No. 4, pp. 554-62, April 2004, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15066070,

11Peter C. Hill and Kenneth I. Pargament, “Advances in the Conceptualization and Measurement of Religion and Spirituality: Implications for Physical and Mental Health Research ,” American Psychologist, Vol. 58, No. 1, 64-74 at 68, January 2003, http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/amp/58/1/64/, http://www.uic.edu/classes/psych/Health/Readings/Hill,%20Conceptualization%20of%20spirituality,%20AmPsy,%202003.pdf.

12Same at 68.

13Danny Cohen-Zada and William Sander, “Religious Participation versus Shopping: What Makes People Happier?” Journal of Law and Economics., Vol. 54, No. 4, pp. 889-906, 2011, http://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/jlawec/doi10.1086-658862.html, http://ftp.iza.org/dp5198.pdf.

14Liesbeth Snoep, “Religiousness and happiness in three nations: a research note,” Journal of Happiness Studies, Vol. 9, pp. 207-211, 2008, http://cms.springerprofessional.de/journals/JOU=10902/VOL=2008.9/ISU=2/ART=9045/BodyRef/PDF/10902_2007_Article_9045.pdf.

15Arjan W. Braam, Erik Hein, Dorly J. H. Deeg, Jos W. R. Twisk, Aartjan T. F. Beekman, and Willem Van, “Religious involvement and 6-year course of depressive symptoms in older Dutch citizens: results from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam,” Journal of Aging and Health, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 467-89, 2004, http://www.mendeley.com/research/religious-involvement-6-year-course-depressive-symptoms-older-dutch-citizens-results-longitudinal-ag/,

16Marta Elliott and R. David Hayward, “Religion and Life Satisfaction Worldwide: The Role of Government Regulation,” Sociology of Religion, Vol. 70, No. 3, pp. 285-310, 2009, .

17Ronald Inglehart, Culture Shift in Advanced Industrial Society, 1990. pp. 227-29.

18Danny Cohen-Zada and William Sander (see footnote 13).

19Peter C. Hill and Kenneth I. Pargament (see footnote 11), p. 71.

20Christopher G. Ellison and Jeffrey S. Levin (see footnote 7), p. 708-9.

21Peter C. Hill and Kenneth I. Pargament (see footnote 11), p. 68; see also Christopher G. Ellison and Jeffrey S. Levin (see footnote 7), p. 707-8.

22Richard Sosis and Candace Alcorta (see , footnote 1 p. 264.

23Peter C. Hill and Kenneth I. Pargament (see footnote 11), p. 69; Christopher G. Ellison and Jeffrey S. Levin (see footnote 7), p. 705-7.

24Liesbeth Snoep (see footnote 14), p. 209-10,

25Peter C. Hill and Kenneth I. Pargament (see footnote 11), p. 69; Christopher G. Ellison and Jeffrey S. Levin (see footnote 7), p. 705-7.

26Peter C. Hill and Kenneth I. Pargament (see footnote 11), p. 69;

27Lynda H. Powell , Leila Shahabi, and Carl E. Thoresen (see footnote 2), p. 41; see also Christopher G. Ellison and Jeffrey S. Levin (see footnote 7), p. 704 and Laura B. Koenig and George E. Vaillant (see footnote 11).

28Lynda H. Powell, Leila Shahabi, and Carl E. Thoresen (see footnote 11), p. 41.

29Arjan W. Braam, Erik Hein, Dorly J. H. Deeg, Jos W. R. Twisk, Aartjan T. F. Beekman, and Willem Van (see footnote 15).

30Peter C. Hill and Kenneth I. Pargament, “Advances in the Conceptualization and Measurement

of Religion and Spirituality : Implications for Physical and Mental Health Research ,” American Psychologist, Vol. 58, No. 1, 64–74 at 70, January 2003, http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/amp/58/1/64/, http://www.uic.edu/classes/psych/Health/Readings/Hill,%20Conceptualization%20of%20spirituality,%20AmPsy,%202003.pdf.

31Same (internal citations omitted); see also Kenneth I. Pargament, Harold G. Koenig, Nalini Tarakeshwar, June Hahn, “Religious Struggle as a Predictor of Mortality Among Medically Ill Elderly Patients,” Archives of Internal Medicine, Vol. 161, No. 15, pp. 1881-5, 2001, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11493130.

32Same (internal citations omitted).