Americans More Religious Now Than Ten Years Ago, but Less So Than in 1950s and 1960s

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- The latest Gallup Index of Leading Religious Indicators (also called the Princeton Religion Research Index) remains at a relatively high level, but is far below the figures recorded in the 1950s and early 1960s.

The current Index (based on surveys conducted in 2000) matches the 1999 figure in this annual audit of the health of organized religion that has been measured for six decades. The latest figure is, however, 24 points higher than the Index's lowest level, which was recorded in 1993.

The Index is an ongoing measurement of eight key religious beliefs and practices. These include the importance Americans place on religion; church or synagogue membership; weekly attendance at religious services; confidence in organized religion; the percentage who give a religious preference; the proportion who say religion can answer the problems of the day; belief in God; and finally, belief in the honesty and standards of the clergy.

Currently, the Index stands at 673. A perfect score would be 1,000 -- an obviously unattainable goal that could be reached only if there were total commitment to God and church.

While this Gallup Index of Leading Religious Indicators can be considered to be a reliable monitor of the strength of organized religion in America, it tells us less about the depth of religious faith, or the extent to which faith is lived out in behavior, attitudes and lifestyle. Continuous efforts by Gallup and other research organizations are being undertaken to probe the latter dimensions.

The decade of the 1980s saw a slow downtrend in the Index that hit its lowest levels in the late '80s and early '90s -- bottoming out in 1993, and then increasing in the latter part of the 1990s.

The highest point in this Index (which dates back to 1941) was attained during the 1950s. The Index peaked at 746 in 1956, before the social upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s took their toll on most institutions, including religion.

Trends of Individual Items
The relative consistency of the Index over the last few years reflects the stability of certain of the individual items.

The Constants
The "constants" that show relatively little change over the decades are these five items:

1. Belief in God or a universal spirit. This percentage has been very high in the U.S. over the last six decades -- consistently in the mid-90% range. However, considerably fewer (eight in 10) believe in a personal God, that is, a God who watches over humankind and answers prayers. And even fewer of these believers, six in 10, express complete trust in God.
2. Importance of religion in lives.Throughout the '90s and into the year 2000, six in 10 Americans have claimed that religion is "very important" in their lives. In a half-century of measurement, this figure has never dropped below 50%. The highest percentage (75%) was recorded in 1952; the lowest (52%) in 1978.
3. Membership in churches and other faith communities.Gallup has been questioning people since 1937 on whether or not they are now members of a church or synagogue. Claims of membership have ranged from a high of 76%, recorded in both 1943 and 1947, to a low of 65% recorded in 1988 and again in 1990.

4. It is important to bear in mind that these percentages are based on those who identify themselves as church or synagogue members and who may or may not be on the official rolls of a given church.

5. Weekly worship attendance.Churchgoing, statistically speaking, has been fairly stable on the whole since Gallup started this measurement in 1939. In that year 41% of the adult population attended church on a weekly basis. The high point was recorded in the mid and late 1950s when nearly half (49%) of the adult population in a typical week attended church or synagogue.
6. Religious preference.Since 1947, approximately nine in 10 Americans have consistently given a religious preference. The percentage of Protestants and Jews has declined sharply since then, while the percentage of Catholics has remained at approximately the same level. Paralleling these trends has been a growth in the percentage of those who name other religions, or do not give a preference.

The Variables
The three "variables" are the following:

1. Confidence in organized religion.Confidence in the church or "organized religion" remained steady for many years, but suffered in the wake of the scandals in the late 1980s, when the percentage who said they had a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence dropped from 66% in 1985 to just 52% in 1989. Confidence in organized religion has ranked consistently among the highest scores for the professions or fields tested over the years.
2. Ethics of clergy.Similarly, members of the clergy have not been immune to the effects of adverse publicity, as positive ratings of their honesty and ethics dropped from 67 percent to 55 percent between 1985 and 1989. While the clergy's ethics and honesty scores have consistently been among the highest of any profession or field tested, with six in 10 in recent years giving them a "very high" or "high" rating, the figures have been volatile. The high point was recorded in 1985 (67%) and the low point (53%) in 1993.
3. Relevance of religion in today's society.Views on the ability of religion to answer today's problems have ranged widely over the decades, from a high of 81 percent in 1957 to a low of 56 percent in 1984, but a consistent majority over the years has believed in its relevance.

A perfect Index score of 1,000 would be achieved only whenallpeople interviewed

• Believed in God
• Had a stated religious preference
• Were members of a church or synagogue
• Attended religious services during the previous 7 days
• Considered religion very important in their lives
• Had high confidence in organized religion
• Believed religion answers today's problems
• Gave a high rating to ethical standards of clergy

Survey data for each of the eight items in a given year are added together, and are reported to the tenth decimal place. Here are the findings for each item for the year 2000, with approximate sample sizes:

 

1. Believe in God (1,000 cases)	95.0%
2. State a religious preference (2,043)	92.0
3. Member of a church (2,043)	68.2
4. Attended church in last 7 days (2,043)	43.6
5. Religion very important in life (2,043)	58.7
6. Religion answers problems (2,043)	64.9
7. High confidence in organized religion (1,000)	56.2
8. Give high rating to ethical standards of clergy (1,000)	59.5
TOTAL	538.1 (or 5381)
5381 divided by 8 = 673 (Index figure for 2000)

Here is the full 60-year trend:

 

2000	673
1999	673
1998	678
1997	673
1996	656
1995	665
1994	658
1993	649
1992	653
1991	656
1990	651
1989	651
1988	650
1987	662
1986	661
1985	684
1984	669
1983	669
1982	672
1981	681
1980	681
1979	676
1978	672
1977	674
1976	682
1975	684
1974	684
1973	686
1972	690
1971	695
1966	724
1961	741
1956	746
1951	742
1946 1	735
1941 1	730

¹ Results for 1941 and 1946 are based on four items.