Regular churchgoers happier than others staying at home--study

Regular churchgoers gradually become part of a like minded religious social network which acts as an essential moral support for them.

Sociology assistant professor Chaeyoon Lim of the University of Wisconsin-Madison said, "Our study offers compelling evidence that it is the social aspects of religion rather than theology or spirituality that leads to life satisfaction.In particular, we find that friendships built in religious congregations are the secret ingredient in religion that makes people happier."

He added, "To me, the evidence substantiates that it is not really going to church and listening to sermons or praying that makes people happier, but making church-based friends and building intimate social networks there."

The study details
The study, conducted in the year 2006, includes a telephonic survey of almost 3,000 Americans.

The survey was followed by a 2007 follow-up survey of another 1,915 respondents.

While the majority of the respondents were mainline Protestants, Catholics and Evangelicals, some Jews, Muslims and other non-traditional Christians too were included.

The participants were asked to report their church attendance and the number of close friends in and outside their congregations.

Factors like health, education, income, work, and the importance of their religious identity were taken into account by the researchers.

The study revelations
Participants who reported having felt "God's presence" at some point were more likely to lead highly satisfying lives as compared to others.

About 28 percent of the participants who visited the church every week reported being "extremely satisfied" with their life as compared to 20 percent who had never attended any service.

The respondents who attended church regularly but did not have any close friends in their congregations experienced almost similar satisfaction than the ones who never visited the church.

"Even in that short time, we observed that people who were not going to church but then started to go more often reported an improvement in how they felt about life satisfaction," said Lim.

He said that people have a deep need for belonging to something "greater than themselves." The experience of sharing rituals and activities with close friends in a congregation makes this "become real, as opposed to something more abstract and remote," he added.

The study has been published in the December issue of the 'American Sociological Review.'