Abstract
We show that Eastern Orthodox believers are less happy compared to those of Catholic and Protestant faith using data covering more than 100 countries around the world. Consistent with the happiness results, we also find that relative to Catholics, Protestants and non-believers, those of Eastern Orthodox religion have less social capital and prefer old ideas and safe jobs. In addition, Orthodoxy is associated with left-leaning political preferences and stronger support for government involvement in the economy. Compared to non-believers and Orthodox adherents, Catholics and Protestants are less likely to agree that government ownership is a good thing, and Protestants are less likely to agree that getting rich can only happen at the expense of others. These differences in life satisfaction and other attitudes and values persisted despite the fact that communist elites sought to eradicate church-going in Eastern Europe, since communists maintained many aspects of Orthodox theology which were useful for the advancement of the communist doctrine. The findings are consistent with Berdyaev's (1933, 1937) hypothesis of communism as a successor of Orthodoxy.
Highlights
Following the pioneering work of Weber (1904), scholars have examined the link between religion and happiness (Campante and Yanagizawa-Drott 2015; Djankov et al 2016); attitudes toward market economy, work ethic and thrift (Guiso et al 2003; McCleary and Barro 2006); trust (La Porta et al 1997); and women and members of other religions (Clingingsmith et al 2009)
Using multiple waves of the World Values Survey (WVS) and the 2010 and 2016 rounds of the EBRD-World Bank Life in Transition Survey (LiTS), we investigate the association of three Christian denominations (Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism) on personal attitudes and behavior, focusing on satisfaction with life in particular
Compared to non-believers, Catholics and Protestants are less likely to agree that government ownership is a good thing, and Protestants are less likely to agree that getting rich can only happen at the expense of others
Summary
Following the pioneering work of Weber (1904), scholars have examined the link between religion and happiness (Campante and Yanagizawa-Drott 2015; Djankov et al 2016); attitudes toward market economy, work ethic and thrift (Guiso et al 2003; McCleary and Barro 2006); trust (La Porta et al 1997); and women and members of other religions (Clingingsmith et al 2009). Consistent with these results, we find that, relative to those belonging to the Catholic or Protestant religion and non-believers, Eastern Orthodox respondents have fewer children, less social capital and are more risk-averse They prefer old, rather than new, ideas and safe jobs. Eastern Christianity (from which Eastern Orthodoxy originated) was associated with mystical and experiential phenomena, was more affectionate and communitarian, and put less emphasis on law, reason and questioning authorities These long-run attitudinal differences survived after nearly fifty years of communism. Communist governments maintained those aspects of Orthodox theology - including the emphasis on tradition and communitarianism - which were useful for spreading and solidifying communist ideas In this regard, Orthodoxy provided a useful condition for the growth of communist regimes.
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