Fewer Americans believe that a more religious country would be a better one than did 13 years ago, a new Gallup poll shows.
The belief among U.S adults that increased religiosity would have a positive effect on America fell by ten percentage points from 75% to 65% since 2013, according to the poll released Tuesday. This drop was largely driven by double digit declines in this sentiment among women and Americans under the age of 54.
Women’s belief that having more religious people would positively affect society decreased 16% since 2013, while it only fell by 3% for men in the same time period. In 2013, more women believed in religion’s positive impact, with 77% saying increased religiosity was a good thing, while 73% of men agreed. Now, more men believe in religion’s positive impact than women, with only 61% of women saying that it would have a positive impact compared with 70% of men.
Young Americans’ belief in increased religiosity’s positive effect has also fallen by 16 points since 2013. Only 49% of Americans aged 18 to 34 believe in its positive effects in 2026, while 65% believed in them in 2013. The belief that increased religiosity would be positive for the nation also fell significantly for Americans aged 35 to 54, going from 80% in 2013 to 66% in 2026.
For Republicans, belief in religion’s positive effects on society has risen from 91% to 94%. Democrats’ and independents’ statistics have decreased, Democrats falling from 67% to 51% who believe more religious people would positively impact America, and independents falling from 71% to 59%.
Notably, Catholics bucked the trend of this sentiment declining. Catholics’ belief that increased religiosity would have a positive impact on the nation has risen from 80% to 85% from 2013 to 2o26, while the percentage of Protestant and Nondenominational Christians in America who believe the same has fallen from 88% to 81% in the same time period.
ReconMR conducted the Gallup poll by surveying a random sample of 1,001 adults from all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. between May 1-17. The survey was conducted through phone interviews. The poll has a margin error of plus or minus four percentage points.
(DCNF)