IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/soinre/v153y2021i1d10.1007_s11205-020-02495-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Good Faith and Bad Health: Self-Assessed Religiosity and Self-Assessed Health of Women and Men in Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Niclas Berggren

    (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)
    University of Economics)

  • Martin Ljunge

    (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN))

Abstract

Religion exerts a powerful influence on many people’s lives. We investigate how self-assessed religiosity affects self-assessed health in Europe. Our sample consists of individuals with a native father and an immigrant mother from another European country. This sample allows for a causal interpretation since we can use the religiosity of the mother’s birth country as an instrument for individual religiosity in the first stage of a 2SLS regression analysis, which is related, in the second stage, to the individual’s health assessment. We find that the more religious are substantially more likely to report bad health. Several robustness tests offer a strong confirmation of the negative relationship between self-assessed religiosity and self-assessed health. Notably, this negative relationship is concentrated among women. The analysis indicates that religious constraints on women’s autonomy can impair their health.

Suggested Citation

  • Niclas Berggren & Martin Ljunge, 2021. "Good Faith and Bad Health: Self-Assessed Religiosity and Self-Assessed Health of Women and Men in Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 153(1), pages 323-344, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:153:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s11205-020-02495-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-020-02495-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-020-02495-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11205-020-02495-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. McCleary, Rachel & Barro, Robert, 2003. "Religion and Economic Growth across Countries," Scholarly Articles 3708464, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    2. Angus Deaton, 2008. "Income, Health, and Well-Being around the World: Evidence from the Gallup World Poll," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(2), pages 53-72, Spring.
    3. Johnston, David W. & Propper, Carol & Shields, Michael A., 2009. "Comparing subjective and objective measures of health: Evidence from hypertension for the income/health gradient," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 540-552, May.
    4. Christopher Ellison & Jinwoo Lee, 2010. "Spiritual Struggles and Psychological Distress: Is There a Dark Side of Religion?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 98(3), pages 501-517, September.
    5. Steven N. Durlauf & Andros Kourtellos & Chih Ming Tan, 2012. "Is God in the details? A reexamination of the role of religion in economic growth," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(7), pages 1059-1075, November.
    6. Berggren, Niclas & Ljunge, Martin & Nilsson, Therese, 2019. "Roots of tolerance among second-generation immigrants," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(6), pages 999-1016, December.
    7. Raquel Fernández & Alessandra Fogli, 2006. "Fertility: The Role of Culture and Family Experience," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 4(2-3), pages 552-561, 04-05.
    8. Berggren, Niclas & Bjørnskov, Christian, 2011. "Is the importance of religion in daily life related to social trust? Cross-country and cross-state comparisons," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 80(3), pages 459-480.
    9. Armin Falk & Anke Becker & Thomas Dohmen & Benjamin Enke & David Huffman & Uwe Sunde, 2018. "Global Evidence on Economic Preferences," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(4), pages 1645-1692.
    10. Alberto Bisin & Thierry Verdier, 2000. ""Beyond the Melting Pot": Cultural Transmission, Marriage, and the Evolution of Ethnic and Religious Traits," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(3), pages 955-988.
    11. Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc, 2010. "Inherited Trust and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(5), pages 2060-2092, December.
    12. McFadden, E. & Luben, R. & Bingham, S. & Wareham, N. & Kinmonth, A.-L. & Khaw, K.-T., 2009. "Does the association between self-rated health and mortality vary by social class?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 275-280, January.
    13. Ljunge, Martin, 2016. "Migrants, health, and happiness: Evidence that health assessments travel with migrants and predict well-being," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 35-46.
    14. Coneus, Katja & Laucht, Manfred & Reuß, Karsten, 2012. "The role of parental investments for cognitive and noncognitive skill formation—Evidence for the first 11 years of life," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 189-209.
    15. Bettendorf, L. & Dijkgraaf, E., 2010. "Religion and income: Heterogeneity between countries," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 74(1-2), pages 12-29, May.
    16. Ljunge, Martin, 2014. "Social capital and health: Evidence that ancestral trust promotes health among children of immigrants," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 165-186.
    17. Binder, Martin & Coad, Alex, 2013. "“I'm afraid I have bad news for you…” Estimating the impact of different health impairments on subjective well-being," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 155-167.
    18. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell & Paul Frijters, 2004. "How Important is Methodology for the estimates of the determinants of Happiness?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(497), pages 641-659, July.
    19. Landon Schnabel, 2016. "Religion and Gender Equality Worldwide: A Country-Level Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 129(2), pages 893-907, November.
    20. repec:mpr:mprres:6549 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Benjamins, Maureen Reindl & Hummer, Robert A. & Eberstein, Isaac W. & Nam, Charles B., 2004. "Self-reported health and adult mortality risk: An analysis of cause-specific mortality," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(6), pages 1297-1306, September.
    22. Gabriella Conti & James Heckman & Sergio Urzua, 2010. "The Education-Health Gradient," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(2), pages 234-238, May.
    23. Armin Falk & Anke Becker & Thomas Dohmen & Benjamin Enke & David B. Huffman & Uwe Sunde, 2017. "Global Evidence on Economic Preferences," NBER Working Papers 23943, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Friedrich Schneider & Katharina Linsbauer & Friedrich Heinemann, 2015. "Religion and the Shadow Economy," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(1), pages 111-141, February.
    25. Olof Johansson‐Stenman & Minhaj Mahmud & Peter Martinsson, 2009. "Trust and Religion: Experimental Evidence from Rural Bangladesh," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 76(303), pages 462-485, July.
    26. Tim Huijts & Gerbert Kraaykamp, 2012. "Immigrants’ Health in Europe: A Cross-Classified Multilevel Approach to Examine Origin Country, Destination Country, and Community Effects," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 101-137, March.
    27. Hoyt Bleakley & Aimee Chin, 2004. "Language Skills and Earnings: Evidence from Childhood Immigrants," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(2), pages 481-496, May.
    28. Wiseman, Travis & Young, Andrew, 2014. "Religion: productive or unproductive?," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(1), pages 21-45, March.
    29. Robert J. Barro & Rachel McCleary, 2003. "Religion and Economic Growth," NBER Working Papers 9682, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    30. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/432sbils8u9t7qa99cii5psht1 is not listed on IDEAS
    31. Ljunge, Martin, 2014. "Trust issues: Evidence on the intergenerational trust transmission among children of immigrants," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 175-196.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Berggren, Niclas & Ljunge, Martin, 2017. "Does Religion Make You Sick? Evidence of a Negative Relationship between Religious Background and Health," Working Paper Series 1173, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    2. Matthias Basedau & Simone Gobien & Sebastian Prediger, 2018. "The Multidimensional Effects Of Religion On Socioeconomic Development: A Review Of The Empirical Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 1106-1133, September.
    3. Ljunge, Martin, 2014. "Social capital and health: Evidence that ancestral trust promotes health among children of immigrants," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 165-186.
    4. Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Gerard Roland, 2021. "Culture, institutions and democratization," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 187(1), pages 165-195, April.
    5. Voigt, Stefan, 2022. "Determinant of Social Norms," ILE Working Paper Series 58, University of Hamburg, Institute of Law and Economics.
    6. Spolaore, Enrico & Wacziarg, Romain, 2014. "Long-Term Barriers to Economic Development," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 3, pages 121-176, Elsevier.
    7. Johansson, Alva & Berggren, Niclas & Nilsson, Therese, 2022. "Intolerance predicts climate skepticism," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    8. Berggren, Niclas & Nilsson, Therese, 2015. "Globalization and the transmission of social values: The case of tolerance," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 371-389.
    9. Filipe R. Campante & David H. Yanagizawa-Drott, 2013. "Does Religion Affect Economic Growth and Happiness? Evidence from Ramadan," NBER Working Papers 19768, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Neuman, Shoshana & Brañas-Garza, Pablo & Espin, Antonio M., 2013. "Effects of religiosity on social behaviour: Experimental evidence from a representative sample of Spaniards," CEPR Discussion Papers 9709, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Jasmine Mondolo, 2019. "How do informal institutions influence inward FDI? A systematic review," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 36(1), pages 167-204, April.
    12. Jasmine Mondolo, 2018. "How do informal institutions influence inward FDI? A systematic review," "Marco Fanno" Working Papers 0218, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche "Marco Fanno".
    13. Marini, Annalisa, 2016. "Cultural Beliefs, Values and Economics: A Survey," MPRA Paper 69747, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Ji, Yaling, 2020. "Religiosity and the adoption of formal financial services," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 378-396.
    15. Yugang He & Jingnan Wang & Baek-Ryul Choi, 2021. "Religious Participation: Does It Matter for Sustainable Culture and Entertainment Consumption?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-16, July.
    16. Basedau, Matthias & Gobien, Simone & Prediger, Sebastian, 2017. "The Ambivalent Role of Religion for Sustainable Development: A Review of the Empirical Evidence," GIGA Working Papers 297, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    17. Conroy, Tessa & Deller, Steven, 2021. "Spatial Patterns in the Relationship Between Religion and Economic Growth," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 51(2), April.
    18. Berggren, Niclas & Bjørnskov, Christian, 2023. "Does globalization suppress social trust?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 443-458.
    19. Salman Syed Ali & Hamid Hasan, 2019. "Does Religiosity Affect Multidimensional Poverty? Evidence from World Values Survey (2010-2014) هل يؤثر التدين على الفقر متعدد الأبعاد؟ أدلة من المسح العالمي للقيم (2014-2010م)," Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Islamic Economics, King Abdulaziz University, Islamic Economics Institute., vol. 32(2), pages 3-24, January.
    20. Giorgio Brunello & Eiji Yamamura, 2023. "Reciprocity and the matrilineal advantage in European grand-parenting," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 397-433, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:153:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s11205-020-02495-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.