A recent report indicates that those who identify as non-religious experience a lower level of human flourishing compared to the general public, while practicing Christians report the highest levels of flourishing.
The findings are part of the latest installment of the State of the Bible USA 2024 report, released by the American Bible Society and focusing on “Nones and Nominals.” The title of the seventh chapter refers to those who are religiously unaffiliated and those who identify as members of a religious group but do not attend services at least once a month.
Based on data collected from a survey of 2,506 respondents conducted from January 4 to January 23, the research provides demographic insights into the religiously unaffiliated. It compared their scores on the Human Flourishing Index to those of the general public.
Overall, the study found that “nones” have an average score of 6.5 on the Human Flourishing Index, while all Americans have an average score of 6.9. Notably, the difference is most significant in the “meaning and purpose” domain, where “nones” scored an average of 6.3 compared to 7.0 for the general public.
Smaller disparities were observed in other areas. In both the “happiness & life satisfaction” and “physical & mental health” domains, “nones” achieved an average score of 6.3, while the average score for the American public was 6.8. In the “character & virtue” domain, “nones” scored 6.9, compared to the 7.3 average for all Americans.
The research further categorized non-practicing Christians into three subgroups, revealing that “practicing Christians” who attend church at least once a month and regard their faith as “strongly important” scored higher than all three groups of “nones.”
The study defines “non-Christians” as encompassing both the “nones” and those practicing non-Christian religions. The term “nominals” applies to those identifying as Christian without regular church attendance. At the same time “casuals” refers to those who attend church at least once a month but do not consider their faith very significant.
Across the Human Flourishing Index and its subcategories, “practicing Christians” achieved the highest scores, followed by “casuals,” “nominals,” and “non-Christians.” Overall, “practicing Christians” scored an average of 7.6 on the Human Flourishing Index, with “casuals” at 7.3, “nominals” at 6.8, and “non-Christians” at 6.6.
In the “close social relationships” domain, “practicing Christians” also had an average score of 7.6, while "casuals" scored 7.0, “nominals” scored 6.8, and “non-Christians” scored 6.7. Although all groups maintained an average score of at least 7.0 in the “character & virtue” domain, “practicing Christians” noted a higher average score of 7.8 compared to “casuals” (7.5), “nominals” (7.1), and “non-Christians” (7.0).
In the “meaning & purpose” category, “practicing Christians” achieved an average score of 7.9, significantly surpassing the scores of “casuals” (7.4), “nominals” (6.8), and “non-Christians” (6.5). In the “physical & mental health” domain, “practicing Christians” tied with “casuals” with an average score of 7.2, outperforming “nominals” (6.6) and “non-Christians” (6.4).
Finally, “practicing Christians” scored an average of 7.6 in the “happiness & life satisfaction” domain, followed by “casuals” at 7.3, “nominals” at 6.7, and “non-Christians” at 6.4.
In a statement regarding the research, John Farquhar Plake, Chief Innovation Officer and State of the Bible Editor-in-Chief at the American Bible Society, acknowledged that “on measures of human flourishing, Nones score decidedly lower than Practicing Christians in every category.”
Two additional chapters of the State of the Bible 2024 USA report are anticipated to be released in November and December, with the completed report expected to consist of nine chapters.
