A new analysis of more than 550,000 Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index interviews conducted over the last year and a half finds that Americans who are the most religious also have the highest levels of wellbeing

The statistically significant relationship between religiousness and wellbeing holds up after controlling for numerous demographic variables. Higher levels of healthy behaviors, life evaluation, work environment perceptions, and emotional health affect religious Americans’ high wellbeing.

Scoring was as follows:
· Very religious: 68.7
· Moderately religious: 64.2
· Non-religious: 64.2

Wellbeing Higher for Religious Americans Across All Six Well-Being Sub-Indexes

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index comprises six sub-indexes. Very religious Americans enjoy at least modestly higher scores across all six of the key wellbeing areas compared with moderately and nonreligious Americans.

The most substantial differences between the very religious and nonreligious groups are in the Healthy Behaviors, Life Evaluation, Work Environment, and Emotional Health indexes. Differences between the very religious and nonreligious on the Physical Health and Basic Access indexes are smaller, but statistically significant. In both of these cases, the larger gap exists between the very religious and moderately religious groups, rather than between the very religious and nonreligious groups.

Implications
Americans who are very religious have higher wellbeing than those who are less religious, a relationship that holds even after controlling for several related demographic and geographic variables.

This study does not allow for a precise determination of why this might be the case. It is possible that Americans who have higher wellbeing may be more likely to choose to be religious than those with lower wellbeing. It is also possible that some third variable could be driving certain segments of the U.S. population to be more religious and to have higher wellbeing.

It is also possible that the relationship is straightforward, that something about religiosity, defined as a personal importance placed on religion and frequent religious service attendance, in turn leads to a higher level of personal wellbeing.
Religious service attendance promotes social interaction and friendship with others, and Gallup analysis has clearly shown that time spent socially and social networks themselves are positively associated with wellbeing. Religion generally involves more meditative states and faith in a higher power, both of which have been widely used as methods to lower stress, reduce depression, and promote happiness. Religion provides mechanisms for coping with setbacks and life’s problems, which in turn may reduce stress, worry, and anger.

Many religions, including Christianity, which is by far the dominant religion in the U.S., embody tenets of positive relationships with one’s neighbors and charitable acts, which may lead to a more positive mental outlook.

Highly religious Americans’ healthier behaviors may have multiple causes, including for example culturally negative norms against such behaviors as smoking and alcohol consumption in a number of religions. It may also be possible that the lower emotional wellbeing of less religious Americans puts them in a state in which they are more susceptible to non-healthy behaviors.

Source: http://www.gallup.com/poll/144080/Religious-Americans-Enjoy-Higher-Wellbeing.aspx