This blog is the final instalment of four blogs about subjective well-being (SWB), religion, and education. Using SWB to measure the effects of policy provides an alternate, and in some respects, a potentially more complete picture of policy effectiveness (Blog 1). Appreciating how social institutions – religious and secular – influence individual well-being and hence, expanding our understanding of societies, is especially useful in applied microeconomics (Blog 2 and 3). Understanding and generalising the mechanism through which institutions influence well-being offers an adaptable framework for understanding individuals. This blog attempts to apply such a framework by considering how education may alter the well-researched religion-SWB relationship.

Early research suggested that modern-day thought is incompatible with religion. Religious doctrine and science are often conflicting due to dissonance between the curriculums of mainstream education and aspects of religious teachings (Schwadel, 2011). Science is based on empiricism and regarded as fact, whereas the crux of religion lies in beliefs that may not be verifiable. Therefore, higher levels of secular education may be associated with a decline in religion’s influence, be it in terms affiliation, participation, importance and/or belief (Glaeser and Sacerdote, 2008; Hungerman, 2014).

Education is thought to weaken internal measures of religiosity, such as religious importance and religious meaning. Acquiring knowledge of science, learning about other cultures and being exposed to secular views are the product of higher education that conflict traditional religious thought (Hungerman, 2014; Schwadel, 2011). Higher education is also associated with increased cognitive abilities and higher income levels. The aforementioned may cause individuals to doubt certain religious dogmas, while the latter equips individuals to effectively deal with life events in a manner independent of religion (Glaeser and Sacerdote, 2008; Schwadel, 2015). The significance derived from religion is thus diminished, and one’s reliance on religion as a means of interpretation is minimised. Disaffiliation, however, may not occur since there are external aspects of religion, such as religious affiliation or religious participation that are thought to exist independently or in a conducive manner to the attainment of higher education (McFarland et al., 2011).

Glaeser and Sacerdote (2008) posit that educational attainment reduces internal forms of religiosity because it emphasises views that conflict most traditional religious beliefs, but it increases the value placed on social interactions. Since the social aspect of religion is not that different from voluntary organisations, and education is known to promote organisational participation, the external religiosity benefits from affiliation may mitigate against waning internal religiosity. Therefore, even if highly educated individuals become sceptical about some facets of religion, they may not necessarily disaffiliate (Helliwell, 2002; McFarland et al., 2011; Schwadel, 2011). In light of the increased value derived from social connections among the educated, religious participation – a measure of external religiosity – may increase the frequency of attendance at religious events, thus strengthening the role of external religiosity in promoting SWB (Glaeser and Sacerdote, 2008).

To test the relationship between education and religion, Schwadel (2011) analysed data using a multinomial logit model captured by the 1998 General Social Survey consisting of a nationally representative sample of American adults above the age of 25 where two of the religious measures used were Biblical literalism and religious participation. Schwadel (2011) reported that, on average, a 1-year increase in education reduced the likelihood of an individual reporting that they believed the Bible to be the actual word of God by 13 per cent. In contrast, the likelihood of individuals having attended religious service or having volunteered for a religious group in the last seven days increased, on average, by 15 per cent and 23 per cent for every extra year of education attained, respectively. This study also suggests that higher education does not lead to disaffiliation.

Schwadel (2011) explains that educated Americans take advantage of the voluntary nature of religion in America. Although highly educated respondents in the sample are likely to disregard religious beliefs that conflict educational institutions, they are as likely and in some instances more likely than individuals with lower levels of education to participate in religious activities that do not conflict educational institutions. This suggests that educated individuals may not necessarily disregard religion altogether and reveals the importance or value they place on religious activities. It seems that religion’s social mechanism is not adversely affected by the attainment of higher education since educated individuals participate in religious activities despite experiencing some reservations about religion.

McFarland et al. (2011) also studied the effects of education on religious participation and Biblical literalism using data from the American General Social Survey for the period 1984-2006. Findings in this study were similar to the results obtained by Schwadel (2011) where higher education was positively related to religious participation and negatively associated with believing the Bible to be the actual word of God. McFarland et al. (2011) coded religious affiliation to take into account religious tradition where these categories consisted of Evangelical Protestant, Black Protestant, Catholic, mainline Protestant and non-affiliated. Results suggest that higher levels of education do not cause disaffiliation but the measure of religiosity used is subject to variation across different religious groups. Evangelical and Black Protestant groups displayed the largest increase in religious participation as educational attainment increased whereas higher education among mainline Protestants and non-affiliated individuals was associated with the least probability of believing the Bible to be the actual word of God.

McFarland et al. (2011) explained these findings using the concept of network closure. Network closure, in this context, is a measure of the inter-connectedness within a religious group that enables the diffusion of information and promotes a sense of trust and belonging (Coleman, 1988). Religious groups that exhibit a high degree of network closure, such as Evangelical and Black Protestants, display a positive relationship between educational attainment and both internal and external religiosity measures. This has been attributed to being sheltered from opposing beliefs and that highly educated members are immensely valued within religious groups.

The literature seems to indicate that the value placed on social relationships is a strong mitigating factor when considering the negative influence of education on religion. Habib et al. (2009) analysed information collected from a convenience sample of 2909 participants in Algeria. Religion was measure as religious practice and religious altruism. Religious practice captured the external aspects associated with religion, whereas religious altruism gauged the strength of one’s internal beliefs. University graduates generally reported high levels of religious practice but were among the lowest scores for religious altruism. Habib et al. (2009) concluded that highly educated people place greater importance on external religiosity rather than internal religiosity.

From this discussion, it would appear that the effect of educational attainment on religion depends on how religion is operationalised. Educational attainment does not consistently lead to disaffiliation. For religious participation – a measure of external religiosity – higher levels of education may cause one to derive greater value from social interactions, suggesting that educational attainment could strengthen external forms of religiosity. On the contrary, the literature indicates that educational attainment adversely affects internal religiosity measures, such as religious meaning and religious importance. This is due to higher levels of education being associated with higher income and improved cognitive abilities such that individuals become increasingly self-reliant.