Aidan Connaughton is a research analyst at Pew Research Center focusing on global attitudes research. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Linguistics from Harvard University.
The pandemic has had a divisive effect on a sense of national unity in many of the countries surveyed: A median of 46% feel more national unity now than before the coronavirus outbreak, while 48% think divisions have grown.
A median of 45% across 34 surveyed countries say it is necessary to believe in God to be moral and have good values. However, public opinion on this question, as well as the role of God, prayer and religion varies by country, region and economic development.