Religiosity and Life Satisfaction in economically Developed European Countries
Religiosity and Life Satisfaction in economically Developed European Countries

Author(s): Vladimir S. Mentus
Subject(s): Theology and Religion, Sociology of Religion
Published by: Институт друштвених наука
Keywords: religiosity; life satisfaction; Europe; secularization; cross-section
Summary/Abstract: In this paper the relationship between religiosity and life satisfaction in economically developed European countries is examined. The data come from the last round of the European Social Survey, from 2016. This data gives an opportunity to analyze three dimensions of religiosity – self-rating religiosity, frequency of attendance of religious services apart from special occasions, and frequency of praying apart from at religious services. On the other hand, life satisfaction data is provided using the single-item self-rating scale. The data from more than 22,000 respondents from 12 economically developed European countries indicated very weak relationship between all examined religiosity dimensions and life satisfaction. In the discussion, possible explanations for lack of relationship between these variables are provided – in the first place by examining existing evidence that in economically developed societies religion has little importance for individual well-being.

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