Religion is considered extremely important by the majority of people on our planet, but as vital as your beliefs may be to you, they don't necessarily make you happier, a new study published in the December issue of the American Sociological Review finds.
The study has found that religions “secret ingredient” that makes people happier is actually the deep friendships that are built up in faith communities.
"Those are the people who give you the sense of belonging," said lead study author Chaeyoon Lim, of the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Lim conducted the study with Robert Putnam, author of "Bowling Alone" and "American Grace."
These findings fly in the face of other recent studies that assert the happiness gleaned from religion is rooted in spirituality – a belief in a higher power that engages you in regularly religious rituals. Yet, this particular study found that factors such as prayer, religious services and strength of faith do not necessarily lead to life contentment.
Lim and Putnam looked at a nationally representative sample of almost 2,000 people in the United States. The majority of the participants in the study were Protestant and Catholic; Jews, Muslims and other non-Christians were a smaller portion.
According to the study, one-third of people who attend religious services every week, and who have three to five close friends in their congregation, said they are "extremely satisfied" with their lives.
The study defined extremely satisfied as a 10 on a scale ranging from one to 10.
In comparison, only 19 per cent of people who attend religious services weekly, but who have no close friends in their congregation, report that they are extremely satisfied with their lives. For people who never attend religious services, and as such have no friends from their congregation, the same percentage said they are extremely satisfied.
On the other hand, 23 per cent of people who attend religious services infrequently, but who have three to five close friends in their congregation, are extremely satisfied.
Looking at the data, Lim and Putnam concluded that it was camaraderie that was key to participants' outlook.
"One of the important functions of religion is to give people a sense of belonging to a moral community based on religious faith," he said.
"This community, however, could be abstract and remote unless one has an intimate circle of friends who share a similar identity. The friends in one's congregation thus make the religious community real and tangible, and strengthen one's sense of belonging to the community."