Why religion makes some, but not all, of us happy

Religious people tend to feel better about themselves and their lives, but a new study finds that this benefit may only hold in places where everyone else is religious, too.

Using information from 187,957 daters, the researchers compared each individual’s spirituality and happiness against the backdrop of religiosity in each person’s country. (Data on countrywide religiosity came from eDarling and from the Gallup World Poll.) They found that religion did indeed contribute to happiness, but only in cultures where religion is celebrated. For example, a believer gets a happiness boost in Turkey, where religion is part of the fabric of daily life and taking part means you’re doing the “right” thing in your culture. But that same person wouldn’t see any benefit in Sweden, where few people care much about religion.

The study isn’t focused on any specific religious denomination, but on religious feelings in general, the researchers wrote on their eDarling research blog. Nonetheless, the findings suggest that research on religion and happiness in the United States — where religion is relatively important compared with many other nations — may not apply across all cultures.