Multi-Nation Surveys of Religious Beliefs

Abstract

here has been a recent awakening of interest in both the analysis of national survey data concerning religious beliefs (Carroll & Roozen, 1973; Silverman, 1976) and the cross-national study of religion (Wuthnow, 1977). Very few scholars, however, seem to be aware that several multi-nation surveys of religious beliefs have been conducted since the end of World War II by the Gallup Organization and its international affiliates. Presented here are nation-by-nation responses to Gallup questions concerning belief in God, hell, the devil, heaven, life after death, and reincarnation; religiosity; and support for religious intermarriage. These responses are drawn from Gallup Polls taken in 1947 in eleven nations, in 1961 in seven nations, in 1968 in thirteen nations, and in 1975 on five continents. The findings of the 1947 and 1961 surveys are taken from Gallup's compendium of the polls it has taken since 1933 (Gallup, 1972:698-699 and 1746-1747). The later surveys appeared in the monthly Gallup Opinion Index (1968,1969,1976). Findings from a special elevennation Gallup survey of the religious beliefs of youth are not reviewed here, because of the special nature of the national samples and because they have been treated extensively elsewhere (Shirakashi, 1976). For the same reasons, Yinger's (1977) findings concerning the religious beliefs of youth in 16 nations are also not reported here. Unfortunately, for nations other than the United States, Gallup has provided only aggregate national responses instead of breaking responses down in terms of such relevant variables as age, sex, social class, and religious affiliation. Moreover, the fact that these data sets are not archived at the Roper Public Opinion Research Center means that there is no possibility of obtaining them for purposes of secondary analysis. On the other hand, the aggregate national responses themselves may still be of interest for what they suggest about overall similarities and differences in religious culture from nation to nation and, in some instances, from time to time. Before proceeding further, a word is in order concerning the significance of the cross-national and longitudinal differences in the tables below. Some readers may be surprised to find no indication in these tables of whether such differences are