Religion and Human Flourishing

Imagine a doctor who doesn't tell her patients about a scientifically proven health factor that leads to longer and healthier lives. "That is roughly where American medicine stands on religion," Wheatley researchers assert.

The shrinking of the Great Salt Lake inspired an enormous sense of urgency and unity. Millions of dollars were raised and many organizations came together to work on solving the critical health issue. Yet Wheatley researchers argue there's another health factor that needs equal attention— one that the U.S. healthcare system has largely been ignoring.

Are Latter-day Saints Christians? Two Wheatley Fellows, Dr. Justin Collings and Hal Boyd, gave their thoughts on the long-standing religious debate in a recent article published in the Dispatch.

As we begin the second quarter of the 21st century, what do the best medical and social science studies tell us about connections between religion and health? The Religion and Human Flourishing series, a three-part research series by Wheatley Institute, answers this question by synthesizing the findings from Koenig, VanderWeele, and Peteet’s Handbook of Religion and Health (3rd ed., 2024)— a collection of hundreds of rigorous and high-quality studies that make up the most comprehensive and methodologically discerning review on religion and health to date. Part one of Religion and Human Flourishing focuses on religion and mental health, while part three focuses on religion and social health.

Wheatley's research report "The Religion and the Mental Health Connection" was recently cited in a media event by Elder James R. Rasband, a General Authority Seventy and Commissioner of the Church Educational System, as he spoke at an event celebrating the success and recent milestones of the Church of Jesus Christ's Church Educational System.

What is the link between religion and mental health? Could it be key to dealing with America's on-going mental health crisis? Researchers at Wheatley Institute think it could be.

In a collaborative event between Wheatley Institute and BYU's McKay School of Education, leading scholars and educators from across the country discussed the potential for religious faith to help bridge America's widening student learning opportunity gaps.

Today, 80% of Americans say religion is losing influence in American life. Sociologist Christian Smith’s book-length study Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Decline of Traditional Religion (2025) provides data that support this perception. One international study in the last decade that examined national levels of religiosity found that the United States ranked 14% lower in religiosity than formerly communist Russia. Many Americans have replaced religious commitments and identity with devotion to aspects of politics, popular culture, science, or all three.