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Religious Attendance and Health Behavior in Cross-National Perspective: The Role of Religious Context

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Review of Religious Research

Abstract

Background

A substantial body of evidence shows that individuals with higher levels of religious attendance are more likely to avoid risky health behaviors and adopt beneficial health behaviors. Yet, less is known about the extent to which these patterns vary across national context.

Purpose

The current study aims to examine how religious attendance is associated with health behavior cross-nationally. More importantly, it assesses the ways that country-level religiosity moderates this association. In this endeavor, the current study focuses on five health behaviors—smoking, drinking, eating fruit, eating vegetables, and participating in physical activity.

Methods

The current study uses multilevel modeling with data from the seventh round of the European Social Survey (2014).

Results

The multilevel analyses demonstrate that religious attendance is negatively associated with drinking and smoking whereas it is positively associated with eating fruit, eating vegetables, and participating in physical activity cross-nationally. In addition, religious context moderates these associations in a way that lends support to the moral communities thesis. Specifically, the negative association between religious attendance and smoking behavior is stronger in countries with higher levels of religiosity. In a similar vein, the positive association between religious attendance and participating in physical activity is stronger in countries with higher levels of religiosity. However, the positive association between religious attendance and eating fruit is weaker in countries with higher levels of religiosity, which runs counter to the moral communities thesis.

Conclusions and Implications

The results in the study suggest that religious attendance has beneficial effects on health behavior. By analyzing a large, cross-national dataset, the current study lays a firmer basis for the generalization that religious attendance may discourage negative health behavior and promote positive health behavior. In addition, the current study elaborates on this pattern by documenting the moderating role of national religious context. The findings in the study implicate the importance of considering national context in research on religious involvement and health behavior.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks two reviewers for their insightful comments that improved the paper. In addition, special thanks go to Shawn Bauldry who provided useful advice on the multilevel modeling used in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Sungkyunkwan University, 25-2 Sungkyunkwan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea

    Jong Hyun Jung

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  1. Jong Hyun Jung
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Correspondence to Jong Hyun Jung.

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Appendix A: Nations included in the analyses (Including nation-means of scores for focal measures)

Appendix A: Nations included in the analyses (Including nation-means of scores for focal measures)

Nation

Smoking

Drinking

Eating fruits

Eating vegetables

Participating in physical activity

Religious attendance

Country-level religiosity

N

Austria

2.52

3.83

4.65

4.53

3.13

2.74

0.14

1,752

Belgium

2.42

4.13

4.68

5.04

2.80

1.97

− 0.16

1,678

Czechia

2.43

3.39

4.38

4.21

2.66

1.85

− 0.52

1,897

Denmark

2.58

4.41

5.01

4.88

3.53

2.24

− 0.21

1,479

Estonia

2.42

3.11

4.88

4.83

3.72

2.24

− 0.20

1,954

Finland

2.45

3.53

4.98

5.03

3.83

2.27

0.01

2,066

France

2.62

4.14

4.93

5.11

2.52

2.01

− 0.13

1,886

Germany

2.62

4.19

4.92

4.75

3.71

2.19

− 0.14

2,982

Hungary

2.47

2.51

4.19

4.08

1.92

2.25

− 0.15

1,609

Ireland

2.38

3.57

4.96

5.07

3.58

3.55

0.56

2,226

Israel

2.14

2.24

5.01

5.25

2.07

2.89

0.21

2,121

Lithuania

2.37

2.75

4.55

4.89

3.27

3.16

0.33

1,923

Netherland

2.65

4.19

4.82

4.83

3.39

2.00

− 0.16

1,879

Norway

2.37

3.69

5.01

5.01

3.10

2.11

− 0.25

1,427

Poland

2.55

3.01

4.81

4.87

2.94

4.10

0.84

1,479

Portugal

2.17

3.74

5.55

5.13

2.03

3.15

0.46

1,230

Slovenia

2.45

3.52

5.13

5.00

2.96

2.67

0.02

1,171

Spain

2.61

3.85

5.19

4.59

3.14

2.33

− 0.04

1,845

Sweden

2.31

3.82

4.67

5.05

3.39

2.05

− 0.36

1,746

Switzerland

2.49

4.24

4.99

5.11

3.72

2.43

0.12

1,491

United Kingdom

2.40

3.97

5.03

5.13

3.29

2.16

− 0.14

2,155

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Jung, J. Religious Attendance and Health Behavior in Cross-National Perspective: The Role of Religious Context. Rev Relig Res 64, 601–626 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-022-00506-0

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