RELIGIOUS people within the UK coped higher with the coronavirus lockdowns than non-believers, recent research from the University of Cambridge suggests.
A co-author of the report, Professor Shaun Larcom, said: “The study suggests that it shouldn’t be just being religious, however the intensity of religiosity that is significant when coping with a crisis.”
The research, published last month, analysed data from a “balanced panel” of 3884 people within the UK throughout the first two national lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, and compared this with three waves of information before the pandemic. This was taken from the Understanding Society dataset, which is the UK’s important household longitudinal survey, administered by the Institute for Social and Economic Research on the University of Essex.
The results across the UK’s three largest religions — Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism — were broadly similar.
Almost one third (29 per cent) of the people of religion reported lower levels of unhappiness than the typical “more miserable” response.
The important barrier to non secular groups’ surviving and thriving well related to the closure of places of worship, specifically churches and mosques. Well-being amongst some people of religion appeared to suffer greater than others throughout the first lockdown — specifically, those for whom weekly attendance was essential.
Those most affected were Muslims and the more Catholic-minded Christians, the study found. Church leaders were strongly criticised on the time for widespread closures (News, 15 January 2021). A University of York report in 2021 said that “75 per cent of non-church members wanted access to churches as places of quiet reflection and luxury.”
The authors of the Cambridge report, published on 30 January, were clear about “policy implications for future pandemics when it comes to what to do about closures of places of worship during a pandemic”. Denominationally, it emerged that the “Christian Other” category (“those belonging to mainly Protestant churches apart from the Church of England”) coped the least well amongst faith groups.
Another survey from Cambridge, published in November within the European Economic Review, found that the effect of the coronavirus on mental health was significantly smaller for religious people. The international research revealed that participation in online and other religious activities helped them to keep up their mental health.
Professor Larcom concluded: “These studies show a relationship between religion and lower levels of distress during a world crisis. It could also be that religious faith builds resilience, and helps people deal with adversity by providing hope, consolation, and meaning in tumultuous times.”
