- Introduction
- Patterns
- Over Time
- Other Surveys
Religious preference (Demographic Patterns)
What is your religious preference? Is it Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, some other religion, or no religion?. Results weighted by WTCOMB (General Social Survey 2008 Cross-Section and Panel Combined)
Religious preference by Age
| 18-29 years old | 30-44 years old | 45-59 years old | 60-74 years old | 75 years and old | Missing | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protestant | 36.6% 271 | 42.0% 403 | 57.2% 578 | 59.2% 339 | 60.2% 151 | 13 | 49.3% 1742 |
| Catholic | 28.1% 208 | 26.9% 258 | 22.3% 225 | 24.3% 139 | 27.9% 70 | 6 | 25.5% 900 |
| Jewish | 2.8% 21 | 1.9% 18 | 0.8% 8 | 1.6% 9 | 3.6% 9 | 0 | 1.8% 65 |
| None | 25.2% 187 | 19.4% 186 | 13.0% 131 | 10.8% 62 | 5.2% 13 | 3 | 16.4% 579 |
| Other | 7.3% 54 | 9.1% 87 | 6.4% 65 | 4.2% 24 | 2.4% 6 | 3 | 6.7% 236 |
| Don't Know | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.3% 3 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0 | 0.1% 3 |
| No Answer | 0.0% 0 | 0.7% 7 | 0.1% 1 | 0.0% 0 | 0.8% 2 | 1 | 0.3% 10 |
| TOTAL | 100.0% 741 | 100.0% 959 | 100.0% 1011 | 100.0% 573 | 100.0% 251 | 26 | 3535 |
Religious preference by Sex
| Male | Female | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protestant | 46.0% 743 | 52.1% 1013 | 49.3% 1756 |
| Catholic | 24.9% 402 | 25.9% 504 | 25.4% 906 |
| Jewish | 1.4% 23 | 2.1% 41 | 1.8% 64 |
| None | 22.3% 360 | 11.4% 222 | 16.3% 582 |
| Other | 5.2% 84 | 7.9% 154 | 6.7% 238 |
| Don't Know | 0.0% 0 | 0.2% 3 | 0.1% 3 |
| No Answer | 0.2% 4 | 0.4% 7 | 0.3% 11 |
| TOTAL | 100.0% 1616 | 100.0% 1944 | 3560 |
Religious preference by Region
| Northeast | Midwest | South | West | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protestant | 32.3% 196 | 49.6% 377 | 61.6% 805 | 42.6% 377 | 49.3% 1755 |
| Catholic | 37.8% 229 | 24.7% 188 | 20.5% 268 | 24.9% 221 | 25.5% 906 |
| Jewish | 3.1% 19 | 2.1% 16 | 2.0% 26 | 0.5% 4 | 1.8% 65 |
| None | 17.8% 108 | 18.7% 142 | 10.5% 137 | 21.9% 194 | 16.3% 581 |
| Other | 7.9% 48 | 4.7% 36 | 5.2% 68 | 9.7% 86 | 6.7% 238 |
| Don't Know | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.3% 3 | 0.1% 3 |
| No Answer | 1.0% 6 | 0.1% 1 | 0.2% 3 | 0.1% 1 | 0.3% 11 |
| TOTAL | 100.0% 606 | 100.0% 760 | 100.0% 1307 | 100.0% 886 | 3559 |
Religious preference by Political ideology
| Liberal | Moderate | Conservative | Missing | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protestant | 35.7% 333 | 47.0% 618 | 63.6% 755 | 50 | 49.7% 1706 |
| Catholic | 26.1% 243 | 27.9% 367 | 21.7% 258 | 38 | 25.3% 868 |
| Jewish | 3.9% 36 | 1.3% 17 | 0.8% 9 | 2 | 1.8% 62 |
| None | 26.8% 250 | 15.8% 208 | 8.6% 102 | 21 | 16.3% 560 |
| Other | 7.0% 65 | 7.6% 100 | 5.1% 60 | 14 | 6.6% 225 |
| Don't Know | 0.1% 1 | 0.2% 2 | 0.0% 0 | 0 | 0.1% 3 |
| No Answer | 0.4% 4 | 0.2% 3 | 0.3% 3 | 1 | 0.3% 10 |
| TOTAL | 100.0% 932 | 100.0% 1315 | 100.0% 1187 | 126 | 3434 |
Religious preference by Race
| White | Black | Other | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protestant | 48.9% 1357 | 73.0% 327 | 21.3% 72 | 49.3% 1756 |
| Catholic | 26.7% 742 | 5.6% 25 | 41.1% 139 | 25.4% 906 |
| Jewish | 2.3% 63 | 0.2% 1 | 0.0% 0 | 1.8% 64 |
| None | 16.7% 464 | 13.6% 61 | 16.9% 57 | 16.3% 582 |
| Other | 5.0% 140 | 6.5% 29 | 20.7% 70 | 6.7% 239 |
| Don't Know | 0.1% 3 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.1% 3 |
| No Answer | 0.2% 6 | 1.1% 5 | 0.0% 0 | 0.3% 11 |
| TOTAL | 100.0% 2775 | 100.0% 448 | 100.0% 338 | 3561 |
Religious preference by Education
| Left high school | High school | Junior college | Bachelor | Graduate | Missing | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protestant | 46.8% 228 | 52.2% 932 | 55.2% 165 | 44.8% 287 | 41.4% 143 | 1 | 49.3% 1755 |
| Catholic | 30.6% 149 | 23.9% 426 | 23.7% 71 | 28.5% 183 | 22.0% 76 | 0 | 25.4% 905 |
| Jewish | 0.4% 2 | 1.5% 27 | 0.0% 0 | 2.5% 16 | 5.5% 19 | 0 | 1.8% 64 |
| None | 17.2% 84 | 16.2% 289 | 12.0% 36 | 16.4% 105 | 20.0% 69 | 0 | 16.4% 583 |
| Other | 4.5% 22 | 6.0% 107 | 8.7% 26 | 7.0% 45 | 11.0% 38 | 1 | 6.7% 238 |
| Don't Know | 0.0% 0 | 0.1% 2 | 0.0% 0 | 0.2% 1 | 0.0% 0 | 0 | 0.1% 3 |
| No Answer | 0.4% 2 | 0.2% 3 | 0.3% 1 | 0.6% 4 | 0.0% 0 | 0 | 0.3% 10 |
| TOTAL | 100.0% 487 | 100.0% 1786 | 100.0% 299 | 100.0% 641 | 100.0% 345 | 2 | 3558 |
Notes
The General Social Surveys (GSS) have been conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) annually since 1972, except for the years 1979, 1981, and 1992 (a supplement was added in 1992), and biennially beginning in 1994. The GSS are designed to be part of a program of social indicator research, replicating questionnaire items and wording in order to facilitate time-trend studies. The 2008 GSS featured special modules on attitudes toward science and technology, self-employment, terrorism preparation, global economics, sports and leisure, social inequality, sexual behaviors and religion. Items on religion covered denominational affiliation, church attendance, religious upbringing, personal beliefs, and religious experiences.
The GSS is in transition from a replicating cross-sectional design to a design that uses rotating panels. In 2008 there were two components: a new 2008 cross-section with 2,023 cases and the first re-interviews (panel) with 1,536 respondents from the 2006 GSS. The 2,023 cases in the cross-section have been previously released as a part of the 1972-2008 cumulative data. This new release includes those 1,536 re-interviewed panel cases along with the 2,023 cases. Please note that this is not a cumulative file - those cases and variables not surveyed in 2008 are excluded. Also note that, although those 1,536 cases were from the 2006 sample, this release does not include their responses in 2006. We plan to release a data file with the previous responses in the future. This release introduces new variables that were asked only of the panel cases of the 2008 GSS. The majority of variables introduced are related to the 2007 International Social Survey Program (ISSP) module on leisure time and sports.
