Religious people self-identify as happier than non-religious people over and over again in the scientific literature, according to a leading expert on the sociology of religion.

Ryan Burge says there is no need for caveats, wiggle room or downplaying any findings. While it might be that happier people tend to be religious or that religious people tend to be happy “the upshot is still the same: religious nones are less happy than folks who identify with a faith tradition”.

As an example, he said the 2023–2024 Pew Religious Landscape Survey found those who never attend worship were the unhappiest cohort, while there is a steady increase in levels of happiness the more people do worship.

Data from the same survey found the conclusion holds true even when controlled for age and political ideology.

For example, among self-identified liberals born in the 1980s or 1990s who are non-religious and never attend a house of worship, 20% of them say that they are very happy.

For liberals born in the 1980s or 1990s who indicate that they are weekly church-attending Christians, 49% said that they were very happy.