[In European and North American countries, at least six-in-ten
respondents believe that it is not necessary to believe in God in
order to be moral. Responses differ by political affiliation, age,
religious belief and education level.]
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SURVEY: BELIEF IN GOD NOT NECESSARY TO BE MORAL  
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Janell Fetterolf and Sarah Austin
April 20, 2023
Pew Research
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_ In European and North American countries, at least six-in-ten
respondents believe that it is not necessary to believe in God in
order to be moral. Responses differ by political affiliation, age,
religious belief and education level. _

Moral Compass, by psd (CC BY 2.0)

 

Most Americans say it’s not necessary to believe in God in order to
be moral and have good values, according to a spring 2022 Pew Research
Center survey. About two-thirds of Americans say this, while about a
third say belief in God is an essential component of morality (65% vs.
34%).

However, responses to this question differ dramatically depending on
whether Americans see religion as important in their lives. Roughly
nine-in-ten who say religion is not too or not at all important to
them believe it is possible to be moral without believing in God,
compared with only about half of Americans to whom religion is very or
somewhat important (92% vs. 51%). Catholics are also more likely than
Protestants to hold this view (63% vs. 49%), though views vary across
Protestant groups.

There are also divisions along political lines: Democrats and those
who lean Democratic are more likely than Republicans and Republican
leaners to say it is not necessary to believe in God to be moral (71%
vs. 59%). Liberal Democrats are particularly likely to say this (84%),
whereas only about half of conservative Republicans (53%) say the
same.

In addition, Americans under 50 are somewhat more likely than older
adults to say that believing in God is not necessary to have good
values (71% vs. 59%). Those with a college degree or higher are also
more likely to believe this than those with a high school education or
less (76% vs. 58%).

[A chart showing that Majorities in most countries say belief in God
is not necessary to be moral.]
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Views of the link between religion and morality differ along similar
lines in 16 other countries surveyed. Across those countries, a median
of about two-in-three adults say that people can be moral without
believing in God, just slightly higher than the share in the United
States.

Views of religion and morality in other countries

In European and North American countries, at least six-in-ten
respondents believe that it is not necessary to believe in God in
order to be moral. That includes nine-in-ten Swedes, the highest share
of any country surveyed.

In contrast, Israelis are nearly evenly split over whether belief in
God is necessary to be moral: 47% say such a belief is necessary,
while 50% say it is not.

On the other end of the scale, roughly one-in-five Malaysians believe
that people can be moral without believing in God. In every other
country surveyed, at least half of people hold this view.

As in the U.S., differences exist in other countries by religion and
demographic factors. For example, people who identify as atheist,
agnostic or “nothing in particular” are much more likely than the
religiously affiliated to separate belief in God from morality.

[A chart that shows even among those affiliated with a religion, most
say it’s not necessary to believe in God to be moral.]
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Still, even among people who are religiously affiliated, most do not
think it is necessary to believe in God to have good values. In most
countries surveyed, half or more of people who say they belong to a
religion also say it is not necessary to believe in God to be moral,
including 86% of religiously affiliated Swedes and 75% of religiously
affiliated Australians.

Large differences also sometimes appear within countries and
religions, as is the case in Israel. Nearly eight-in-ten Israeli
Muslims say morality is tied to a belief in God, while a majority of
Israeli Jews say it is not. However, views vary widely among Israeli
Jews: Nearly nine-in-ten who are Haredi (“ultra-Orthodox”) and
Dati (“religious”) – both generally considered Orthodox – say
you need to believe in God to have good values (86%). But half of Jews
who are Masorti (“traditional”) and only 7% of Hiloni
(“secular,” the largest group
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agree.

[A chart showing that those on the ideological left are generally more
likely to say it’s not necessary to believe in God to be moral.]
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Differences in responses by political affiliation, age and education
level also align with results in the U.S. In nearly every country
where political ideology is measured, people who place themselves on
the political left are more likely than those on the political right
to say that belief in God is not necessary to have good values. Sweden
is the only country where roughly the same shares on the left and
right agree that you can have good values without believing in God.

In addition, younger adults in about half of the countries surveyed
are significantly more likely than older respondents to say that a
belief in God is not connected with morality. In Greece, for example,
more than four-in-five adults under 30 separate a belief in God from
morality, compared with about half of adults ages 50 and older (84%
vs. 51%). Significant age differences also exist in Poland, Italy,
Singapore, Hungary, the Netherlands, Canada and the United Kingdom.

People with at least a college degree are also more likely to say a
belief in God is not necessary to have good values. The differences by
education are largest in Spain and Germany.

Overall, the answers to this question have been relatively consistent
over time across the countries surveyed.

The economic context of religion and morality

The countries polled in our most recent global survey are all advanced
economies, but previous Pew Research Center surveys have investigated
the link between belief in God and morality in emerging and developing
economies. At the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Pew
Research Center suspended fieldwork
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countries where surveys are conducted in person, many of which are
emerging or developing economies. It is slowly returning to these
countries as conditions improve, but not in time for this survey to
include those countries.

A 2019 survey
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34 countries, including 10 emerging and developing economies, found
that countries with lower gross domestic products (GDPs) had higher
shares of people who say a belief in God is essential for morality (r
= -0.86). For example, in Kenya, which had the lowest GDP per capita,
95% of people saw believing in God as a necessary aspect of morality.
By contrast, in Sweden, which had one of the highest GDPs per capita
of the countries surveyed in 2019, only 9% of people expressed this
view. More than eight-in-ten also held this view in Brazil, South
Africa, Tunisia, Nigeria, Indonesia and the Philippines – all
countries with emerging or developing economies as of 2019.

Like the 2022 survey, the 2019 survey found that older people and
those with less education are more likely to see a connection between
belief in God and living a moral life.

_Note: Here are the questions used
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the report, along with responses, and the survey methodology
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full dataset
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_Janell Fetterolf
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researcher focusing on global attitudes at Pew Research Center._

_Sarah Austin [[link removed]]  is a
research assistant focusing on global attitudes research at Pew
Research Center._

_Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the
public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. We
conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis
and other data-driven social science research. We do not take policy
positions._

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