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Believing in Spirits and Life After Death Is Common Around the World
Older adults often are more likely to say religion is personally very important
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- Believing in Spirits and Life After Death Is Common Around the World
- No correlation between a country’s wealth and whether people say there is something spiritual beyond the natural world
- Countries included in this report
- Majorities in most countries surveyed say animals can have spirits
- A median of 56% across the countries surveyed believe in spirits in nature
- Older adults are typically less likely to believe animals can have spirits
- Older adults often are more likely to say religion is personally very important
- Many Indonesians believe in an afterlife
- Relatively few Japanese say religion is very important, but many believe parts of the world can have spirits
- People in wealthier countries are generally less likely to view religion as very important
- Countries’ economic status is only modestly related to the belief that ancestral spirits can affect the living
- Praying daily strongly aligns with seeing religion as very important
- Praying daily does not consistently align with beliefs about animals having spirits
- People who pray daily are more likely to believe in life after death
- Religious ‘nones’ less likely to believe in an afterlife
- Overwhelming shares of Hindus say they use candles or incense for spiritual or religious reasons