The results may have implications for politics. When looking over the U.S. state-by-state map of religiosity, Gallup found “the most religious states in the union generally are the most Republican, while the least religious states skew more toward the Democratic Party,” they said in a statement. “This means that the most divided states — and thus, those where most of the heavy-duty campaigning in this year’s presidential election will be taking place — are the ones where residents tend to be neither at the very religious nor at the nonreligious end of the spectrum.”

The religious scale may also help to explain well-being, since research suggests, at least for some and in some cases, that church can chase away the blues. For instance, a study published in January 2012 in the journal Psychological Science found that people who are religious have higher self-esteem and better psychological adjustment than the nonreligious only in countries where belief in religion is common. People who attend a church, mosque or synagogue get a sharp boost in happiness on Sundays, while less-frequent attendees see a decline in good feelings that day.

Another study suggested the social networks churchgoers build by sitting in the pews may be the reason religious people are happier.