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Happiness and Religion

Author

Listed:
  • Jan Fidrmuc
  • Cigdem Börke Tunali

Abstract

We use four ways of the European Social Survey, covering 2000 to 2008, to analyze the effect of religion on happiness. Our findings confirm that religious individuals are generally happier than non-religious ones. When we seek to disentangle the effects of belonging to an organized religion from the effect of holding religious beliefs, we find that the former lowers happiness while the latter raises it. We interpret this as evidence that the tangible aspects of religion (such as abiding by restrictions on consumption and behavior) decrease happiness while the spiritual aspects increase it. We also find important differences among members of different religious denominations, and between men and women, with females more adversely affected by the tangible aspects of belonging to a religion.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Fidrmuc & Cigdem Börke Tunali, 2015. "Happiness and Religion," CESifo Working Paper Series 5437, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_5437
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    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp5437.pdf
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Niclas Berggren & Christian Bjørnskov & Therese Nilsson, 2017. "What Aspects of Society Matter for the Quality of Life of a Minority? Global Evidence from the New Gay Happiness Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(3), pages 1163-1192, July.
    2. Berggren, Niclas & Nilsson, Therese & Bjørnskov, Christian, 2015. "What Aspects of Society Affect the Quality of Life of a Minority? Global Evidence from the New Gay Happiness Index," Working Paper Series 1101, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    3. Olga Popova, 2017. "Does religiosity explain economic outcomes?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 335-335, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    religion; happiness;

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion

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