Over the past several decades, religion has moved from the center of American public life toward the margins. Most Americans now say religion is losing influence, and participation has declined across much of the developed world. At the same time, many Americans have shifted sources of identity and moral meaning away from religious commitments toward politics, popular culture, science, or some combination of the three. As this shift continues, it invites closer examination of how changes in religious involvement relate to individual well-being— including mental and physical health— as well as to family relationships and broader social life.
While opinions about whether religion is a force for good or ill are commonly found in social media debates and articles in prominent media outlets, very few of these viewpoints are deeply tied to the scientific research on the matter. This is a striking and notable omission given that research on the associations between religion and social health has expanded and deepened in significant ways in recent years.
The Religion and Human Flourishing series, of which this report is a part, draws on thousands of the most rigorous medical and social science studies available in the Handbook of Religion and Health (2024 edition)— the most comprehensive scholarly effort to document both the benefits and harms of religion— to provide a clear, evidence-based answer regarding religion's impact on health. This series concludes that religious involvement is most often associated with significant benefits across domains— including linkages to better mental health, improved physical health, and stronger family and community connections. Taken together, the evidence suggests that religion remains a powerful but frequently overlooked resource for human flourishing, one whose role merits greater attention in research and policy discussions.
This report is the final installment in the Religion and Human Flourishing series. Report 1 examined religion and mental health and found that, although harmful forms of religion exist, the highest-quality evidence overwhelmingly links religious belief, practice, and participation with better mental health outcomes, including significantly greater positive emotion and significantly lower rates of depression and suicide. Report 2 focused on religion and physical health and similarly found that active religious involvement is significantly associated with improved physical health, including lower mortality risk and reduced substance use, with positive associations far outnumbering negative ones across all studied domains. This third report shifts the focus to social health, examining relationships within marriages, families, communities, and broader society. As we move into the second quarter of the 21st century, the central question addressed here is: What does the best available social and medical science reveal about the relationship between religion and the quality and functioning of human relationships?
This third report reveals the strongest pattern of the series. Drawing on 528 of the most rigorous studies identified in the 2024 Handbook, 489 (93%) reported positive associations between religion and social health, compared with only 15 (3%) reporting negative associations— a ratio of approximately 33:1.
The Handbook of Religion and Health examines religion’s relationship with four central domains of social health: (1) delinquency and crime, (2) social support, (3) marital and family stability, and (4) substance abuse and addiction. Each of these domains are examined in depth in this current report. We then turn to an additional, critically important area of social health that did not receive focal treatment in the Handbook—fertility and birthrates.
The evidence linking religiosity to lower crime and delinquency is especially strong, with a positive-to-negative ratio of 69:1. Studies also show robust associations between religious involvement and greater social support, higher rates of volunteering and charitable giving, stronger marriages, lower divorce rates, reduced domestic violence, and greater family stability. Research further suggests that religious involvement is associated with more positive views of children, along with higher fertility— indicating a potential role in sustaining family life and long-term social continuity.
Read part one of the series, The Religion and the Mental Health Connection
Read part two of the series, The Religion and Physical Health Connection
About the Authors
Loren D. Marks is a Professor in the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University and a Wheatley Institute Affiliate Scholar.
Harold G. Koenig is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center and a leading authority on religion and health.
They are joined by co-authors Shima B. Baughman, Jared R. Robbins, Paul W. Lambert, and Elijah L. Nevares.