Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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Social scientists have proposed various explanations for age gaps in religious commitment around the world. One common explanation is that new generations become less religious in tandem with economic development – as collective worries about day-to-day survival become less pervasive and tragic events become less frequent. According to this line of thinking, each generation in […]
The European continent today is split in public attitudes toward religion, minorities and social issues such as gay marriage and legal abortion.
L’Europa occidentale, culla del protestantesimo e storicamente sede del cattolicesimo, è diventata una delle regioni più secolari al mondo. Anche se la grande maggioranza degli adulti afferma di avere ricevuto il battesimo, oggi molti di essi non si descrivono come cristiani. Alcuni affermano di aver abbandonato gradualmente la religione, di avere smesso di credere negli […]
About three-quarters of Americans say they try to talk to God or another higher power. And 28% indicate that their attempts at communication are answered, saying God or the spiritual force in the universe talks directly with them. Communicating with God is most common among evangelical Protestants and those in the historically black Protestant tradition, […]
Relatively few adults in Western Europe participate in religious activities. For example, across the 15 countries surveyed, a median of 22% say they attend religious services at least once a month. By comparison, regular religious service attendance is much more common in some other parts of the world with large Christian populations, including Africa, Latin […]
Question 1: Measuring religious identity How does Pew Research Center measure the religious identity of survey respondents and the religious composition of the U.S.? Answer: Generally, we rely on respondents’ self-identification. A key question we ask in many surveys is: “What is your present religion, if any? Are you Protestant, Roman Catholic, Mormon, Orthodox such […]