Religious people only live longer in religious cultural contexts

Tobias Ebert, Jochen E Gebauer, Jildou R Talman, P Jason Rentfrow

OAI: oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/302370 • DOI: 10.17863/CAM.49442

Religious people live longer than non-religious people according to a staple of social science research. Yet, are those longevity benefits an inherent feature of religiosity? To find out, we coded gravestone inscriptions and imagery in order to assess the religiosity and longevity of 6,400 deceased people from religious and non-religious U.S. counties. We show that in religious cultural contexts, religious people lived 2.2 years longer than did non-religious people. In non-religious cultural contexts, however, religiosity conferred no such longevity benefits. Evidently, a longer life is not an inherent feature of religiosity. Instead, religious people only live longer in religious cultural contexts where religiosity is valued. Our study answers a fundamental question on the nature of religiosity and showcases the scientific potential of gravestone analyses.

Humans longevity Religion and Psychology United States