How important is being a Christian?

QuickStats > U.S. Surveys > Attitudes > About Religion and Politics >


How important is being a Christian? (Demographic Patterns)

Some people say the following things are important for being truly American. Others say they are not important. How important do you think each of the following is... E. To be a Christian


How important is being a Christian? by Gender (General Social Survey, 2004)

  MALE FEMALE TOTAL
VERY IMP. 40.5%
217
54.1%
368
48.1%
585
FAIRLY IMP 17.5%
94
14.4%
98
15.8%
192
NOT VERY 21.5%
115
13.8%
94
17.2%
209
NOT IMPOR. 17.2%
92
15.0%
102
16.0%
194
CANT CHOOS 3.4%
18
2.5%
17
2.9%
35
NO ANSWER 0.0%
0
0.1%
1
0.1%
1
Missing 744 852 1596
TOTAL 100%
536
100%
680
1216

How important is being a Christian? by Race (General Social Survey, 2004)

  WHITE BLACK OTHER TOTAL
VERY IMP. 46.1%
448
72.7%
120
21.5%
17
48.1%
585
FAIRLY IMP 16.8%
163
6.7%
11
22.8%
18
15.8%
192
NOT VERY 17.5%
170
13.3%
22
21.5%
17
17.2%
209
NOT IMPOR. 17.2%
167
3.6%
6
26.6%
21
16.0%
194
CANT CHOOS 2.5%
24
3.0%
5
7.6%
6
2.9%
35
NO ANSWER 0.0%
0
0.6%
1
0.0%
0
0.1%
1
Missing 1262 212 122 1596
TOTAL 100%
972
100%
165
100%
79
1216

How important is being a Christian? by Religion (General Social Survey, 2004)

  PROTESTANT CATHOLIC OTHER NONE Missing TOTAL
VERY IMP. 63.0%
396
48.3%
139
24.8%
31
11.2%
19
0 48.3%
585
FAIRLY IMP 15.9%
100
22.9%
66
9.6%
12
8.2%
14
0 15.8%
192
NOT VERY 13.7%
86
15.6%
45
19.2%
24
31.2%
53
1 17.2%
208
NOT IMPOR. 6.2%
39
11.8%
34
40.0%
50
40.6%
69
2 15.8%
192
CANT CHOOS 1.3%
8
1.4%
4
5.6%
7
8.8%
15
1 2.8%
34
NO ANSWER 0.0%
0
0.0%
0
0.8%
1
0.0%
0
0 0.1%
1
Missing 854 368 133 233 8 1596
TOTAL 100%
629
100%
288
100%
125
100%
170
12 1212

How important is being a Christian? by Age (General Social Survey, 2004)

  18-30 31-44 45-64 65+ Missing TOTAL
VERY IMP. 37.2%
100
43.1%
148
52.4%
226
64.5%
111
0 48.1%
585
FAIRLY IMP 16.7%
45
18.1%
62
13.9%
60
14.5%
25
0 15.8%
192
NOT VERY 19.7%
53
20.1%
69
16.7%
72
8.7%
15
0 17.2%
209
NOT IMPOR. 22.3%
60
15.5%
53
15.5%
67
8.1%
14
0 16.0%
194
CANT CHOOS 4.1%
11
2.9%
10
1.4%
6
4.1%
7
1 2.8%
34
NO ANSWER 0.0%
0
0.3%
1
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
0 0.1%
1
Missing 327 467 536 258 8 1596
TOTAL 100%
269
100%
343
100%
431
100%
172
9 1215

How important is being a Christian? by Church attendance (General Social Survey, 2004)

  NEVER < 1 A MNTH < 1 A WEEK WEEKLY + Missing TOTAL
VERY IMP. 22.2%
44
30.4%
132
59.9%
164
79.7%
244
1 48.2%
584
FAIRLY IMP 12.1%
24
23.3%
101
16.4%
45
7.2%
22
0 15.8%
192
NOT VERY 25.8%
51
23.5%
102
13.1%
36
6.5%
20
0 17.2%
209
NOT IMPOR. 33.3%
66
19.6%
85
8.8%
24
5.2%
16
3 15.8%
191
CANT CHOOS 6.6%
13
3.0%
13
1.8%
5
1.3%
4
0 2.9%
35
NO ANSWER 0.0%
0
0.2%
1
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
0 0.1%
1
Missing 273 531 341 444 7 1596
TOTAL 100%
198
100%
434
100%
274
100%
306
11 1212

How important is being a Christian? by Education (General Social Survey, 2004)

  LESS HS HS DEGREE JR COLL BA DEGREE GRAD DEGRE Missing TOTAL
VERY IMP. 57.0%
77
52.0%
316
55.8%
58
38.6%
96
31.7%
38
0 48.1%
585
FAIRLY IMP 16.3%
22
17.4%
106
14.4%
15
13.7%
34
12.5%
15
0 15.8%
192
NOT VERY 11.1%
15
15.1%
92
13.5%
14
26.1%
65
19.2%
23
0 17.2%
209
NOT IMPOR. 8.9%
12
13.0%
79
14.4%
15
20.5%
51
30.8%
37
0 16.0%
194
CANT CHOOS 6.7%
9
2.3%
14
1.9%
2
1.2%
3
5.8%
7
0 2.9%
35
NO ANSWER 0.0%
0
0.2%
1
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
0 0.1%
1
Missing 229 827 120 258 161 1 1596
TOTAL 100%
135
100%
608
100%
104
100%
249
100%
120
1 1216

Notes

General Social Survey, 2004: General Social Survey: Since 1972, the National Opinion Research Center has conducted a nationwide survey of a random sample of U.S. citizens on a near-yearly basis—the General Social Survey (GSS). In addition to gathering detailed demographic information on respondents, the GSS gathers opinions on a wide variety of topics, such as the role of government in public life, controversial issues such as abortion, confidence in public institutions and a host of others. Of course, respondents are unlikely to spend five hours completing a survey so in order to gather data on a broad range of issues the GSS has adopted the practice of rotating groups of questions into and out of the survey in different years.