Education and Religion
Abstract
In the United States, religious attendance rises sharply with education across individuals, but religious attendance declines sharply with education across denominations. This puzzle is explained if education both increases the returns to social connection and reduces the extent of religious belief, and if beliefs are closely linked to denominations. The positive effect of education on social connection is the result of both treatment and selection: schooling creates social skills and may increase people’s utility from engaging in other social activities such as church attendance. The negative effect of education on religious belief occurs because secular education emphasizes secular beliefs that are at odds with many traditional religious views.
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One possible explanation for the result that low religiosity combines with high GDP is that lack of religiosity functions as a proxy for high levels of education, as religiosity and education have been shown to be inversely correlated and education to be linked to an orientation towards sustainability.
“One possible explanation for our result may be that lack of religiosity functions as a proxy for high levels of education, as religiosity and education have been shown to be inversely correlated (Glaeser and Sacerdote, 2008) and education to be linked to an orientation towards sustainability (Weaver and Agle, 2002).”
From Sustainability startups and where to find them: Investigating the share of sustainability startups across entrepreneurial ecosystems and the causal drivers of differences (2021) · cites this paper as Glaeser and Sacerdote, 2008
Cites
Household Allocation of Time and Church Attendance
Azzi, C., & Ehrenberg, R. (1975) · Journal of Political Economy · doi:10.1086/260305 · Cited by 711 · see citing works
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Tiba, S., van Rijnsoever, F. J., & Hekkert, M. P. (2021) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.127054 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
- Authors
- Glaeser, E. L., & Sacerdote, B. I.
- Affiliations
- National Bureau of Economic Research (US)
- Dartmouth College (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Human Capital
- Publisher
- University of Chicago Press
- Published
- 2008-06
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 188-215
- ISSN
- 1932-8575 (ISSN-L)
- 1932-8664
- OpenAlex
- W3123220534
- Cited by
- 248
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 35.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Human Capital (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Religion and Society Interactions
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Education › Religious Education and Schools
- Keywords
- education, religious service attendance, religious beliefs, church attendance, denominations, social connectedness, secularization, returns to education, selection effects, social skills
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