Latter-day Saints have closer communities than average Americans.
Community and friendship among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- Latter-day Saints have many more close friends than other Americans.
- Latter-day Saints are the Americans most likely to feel closely connected to people in their communities.
More:
Researcher Daniel Cox analyzed data from a survey of 5,058 adults in all 50 states.
Cox notes, “In terms of their social connectedness, Latter-day Saints are doing way better than your average American.”
Cox continues, “This has a whole host of benefits. We know that loneliness is incredibly damaging to your emotional health, to physical health, so being rooted in these communities is just an incredibly good position to be in.”
Overall, the study showed that “Americans who report higher levels of religious participation feel more attached to their communities and the people in them,” and none more so than Latter-day Saints.
The study showed that people who attend church regularly, volunteer often and have access to community leaders reported higher feelings of connection to their communities.
Latter-day Saints reported high levels of all three factors.
“These relationships between religious and civic engagement and people’s views of their communities are evidence of the power of regular, meaningful interaction with friends, neighbors and people in groups with whom we feel a kind of kinship,” according to the study.
More than half of Latter-day Saints spend time at least once a week with people from their church outside of formal church services.
This is way more often than members of other faith traditions.
Cox observes:
“We also found that an incredible 95% of Latter-day Saints report that they are formally members of their church. The next closest religious group, white evangelical Protestants, clock in at only 69%. Everyone else is lower.”
Latter-day Saints are uniquely connected to the people who share their religious identity.
90% of Latter-day Saints have a close friend who’s a Latter-day Saint, and that’s not even counting family members.
69% of Latter-day Saints felt very close to other members of their church. Cox notes that the next closest group is Jewish people at 50%.
This survey found that Latter-day Saints volunteered weekly at more than three times the rate of all Americans.
The survey also calls out:
Latter-day Saints are the group most likely to personally know community leaders.
Latter-day Saints are the group most likely to say the people in their area would be “very willing” to help neighbors.
“Latter-day Saints are not only more religiously active than most other Americans, they also participate in civic life far more often—they spend more time hosting their neighbors, talking to strangers, attending community meetings, and even visiting the public library.”
“At least once or twice a month I…”
Spend time at a local park.
Latter-day Saints: 57%
U.S. Average: 48%
Source: Survey Center on American Life
“At least once or twice a month I…”
Have a conversation with a stranger.
Latter-day Saints: 50%
U.S. Average: 35%
“At least once or twice a month I…”
Visit a local public library.
Latter-day Saints: 38%
U.S. Average: 22%
“At least once or twice a month I…”
Have dinner at a restaurant in the community.
Latter-day Saints: 73%
U.S. Average: 63%
“At least once or twice a month I…”
Have friends, family, or neighbors in my home.
Latter-day Saints: 69%
U.S. Average: 56%
“At least once or twice a month I…”
Attend religious services.
Latter-day Saints:
82%
U.S. Average: 33%
Source: Survey Center on American Life“Religious Institutions bring people together and strengthen community bonds.”
Latter-day Saints: 97%
Protestants: 93%
Catholics: 91%
U.S. Average: 89%
Jewish: 88%
Agnostics: 85%
Atheists: 75%
Source: Pew Research Religious Landscape Study
Religious people tend to score higher on wellbeing indexes measuring positive emotions, social life, community basics, and optimism than non-religious people, per Gallup.
Globally, approximately 100 million people who identify as religious have others they can turn to in times of need, which would not be the case if they were not religious, per Gallup.
Worldwide, those who say religion is important to them have significantly higher scores on Gallup’s Civic Engagement Index than those who say religion is not important, per Gallup.