Religious Affiliation, Religious Service Attendance, and Mortality

Area of Science:

• Sociology of Religion
• Public Health
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Limited research explores combined effects of religious affiliation and religiosity on mortality.
• Studies often focus narrowly on religious attendance, neglecting other religiosity dimensions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the simultaneous impact of religious affiliation and multiple dimensions of religiosity on mortality.
• To examine how different religious groups and religiosity measures influence mortality risk.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the General Social Survey-National Death Index (GSS-NDI) dataset.
• Analyzed associations between religious affiliation, attendance, and other religiosity indicators with mortality risk.

Main Results:

• Catholics, Jews, and other religious groups exhibited lower mortality risk compared to Mainline Protestants.
• Black Protestants, Evangelical Protestants, and unaffiliated individuals showed no significant difference in mortality.
• Religious attendance was associated with reduced mortality, but other measures (prayer frequency, belief in afterlife/God) were not.
• Interaction effects were observed: lower mortality for Jews and other groups was more pronounced with lower religious attendance.

Conclusions:

• Religious affiliation and attendance are significant factors in mortality risk.
• Religious attendance appears to be a key protective factor, independent of affiliation.
• The interplay between specific religious groups and attendance levels warrants further investigation for nuanced public health insights.