Survey finds that Americans who believe in God are happier

According to a survey conducted in March by the Wall Street Journal and NORC, faith in God results in better mental health, the Washington Stand reports.

With concerns about the growing mental health crisis in the world, the survey found that only 12% of Americans said they were ‘very happy’.

This is the lowest percentage of Americans to admit this since NORC started asking this question over 50 years ago.

Just five years ago, nearly a third of Americans, 32%, stated they were ‘very happy’.

Certainly, over the past three years, the world has faced several crisis situations, including COVID, the lockdowns, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, inflation, and growing fears about the economy.

So while there are many reasons to be concerned, there was one characteristic that seemed to define the 12% who said they were ‘very happy’, nearly 70% of them said that they believed in God.

Meanwhile, less than half of those who said they were ‘pretty happy’ or were ‘not happy’, reported believing in God, 47% and 42% respectively.

These results should not surprise us as previous polls have also revealed a connection between faith and happiness and ultimately good mental health.

A survey conducted earlier this year, by the American Bible Society came to a similar conclusion.

Using the Persevering Hope Scale, the survey found that people who were scripturally engaged and believed the Bible were significantly more optimistic than those who don’t.

We all go through difficult circumstances, and how we respond to them determines our level of happiness. Unfortunately, people are becoming distressed largely because they have lost hope. They no longer have any expectation that things will get better and this is where faith plays an important role.

There is a vital connection between faith and hope as the writer of Hebrews explains: