The Impact of Church Attendance on the Decline in Female Happiness in the United States

Using the comprehensive data file of the General Social Survey for the years 1972–2008, I replicate the findings of Stevenson and Wolfers (2009) of a decline in self-reported happiness among women in the United States during the past three and a half decades. I then examine the impact of church attendance on this trend and find two principal effects: a direct effect, in which some of the decline in happiness among women is attributable to the drop in church attendance over the period, and a protective effect, in which women who attended church more regularly were less subject to the various forces that produced that decline. Ross: The Impact of Church Attendance on the Decline in Female Happiness 3 ―We all certainly desire to live happily,‖ wrote St. Augustine of Hippo late in the fourth century (Augustine 1983). This is still true in the 21st century, though few of us examine happiness with Augustine’s philosophical depth. We suppose that we are happier today than the people of the fourth century were, because we make the assumption that societal advances bring us more happiness. So it surprises us when, as social conditions improve, we do not become happier. Such a finding serves as the basis for what two researchers have described as the ―paradox of declining female happiness‖ in the United States (Stevenson and Wolfers 2009). Although objective indicators suggest that the past few decades have brought improvement to the lives of American women, Stevenson and Wolfers present a variety of measures of subjective well-being showing that over that time, ―women’s happiness has declined both absolutely and relative to men‖ (2009: 190). Many economic and educational indicators demonstrate improved conditions for women relative to men. Wages, labor force participation, and occupational distribution among women over the past few decades have grown closer to levels that are characteristic of men (Blau 1998; Lee and Mather 2008). Educational outcomes have also improved dramatically for women; for example, by 1980, the number of women attending colleges had surpassed male attendance, and the trend has continued (Freeman 2004; Snyder, Dillow, and Hoffman 2009). Yet these and other social changes have entailed costs as well as benefits. Women’s greater participation in the economy and in education often conflicts with the traditional roles of wife and mother that remain attractive to women. These new expectations that women can ―do it all‖ have resulted in increased stress and physical and emotional exhaustion (Soares, Grossi, and Sundin 2007). They have also introduced further ambiguity about the role of women in society and have often compromised the social integration of the families, communities, and associations to which women belong (Putnam 2000). This combination of uncertain expectations and weakened social ties has long been recognized as a threat to the well-being of the human person (Durkheim 1951). A variable of considerable relevance to these social changes, one that Stevenson and Wolfers did not include in their analysis, is church attendance. Research has shown that American women are more likely than men to attend church regularly, suggesting that this is a more important activity in women’s lives than it is in the lives of men. Regular church attendance offers protection against both the anomic and egoistic tendencies in modern society that can undermine one’s sense of well-being. In this social context, traditional beliefs and values centered on transcendent truths are honored and reinforced, providing a source of meaning and purpose that helps churchgoers to face the stresses of everyday living and contributes to a positive evaluation of life. Although religious institutions have not been immune to the modernizing forces that have 4 Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion Vol. 7 (2011), Article 1 undermined many traditional beliefs and practices, the more successful churches do appear to attract people because of their ability to satisfy this need for transcendent meaning (Stark and Smith 2010). Regular attendance at a service of religious worship also provides opportunities to build social relationships around the common pursuit of subjectively important otherworldly goals. Church attendance inhibits social isolation, which, the literature shows, is a strong contributor to unhappiness (Baumeister and Leary 1995: 510). Membership and attendance at church functions offer women not only opportunities for interaction but also assistance in some of the responsibilities of child rearing. Furthermore, for Christians and those of some other faiths, the interpersonal contact facilitated by regular church attendance is not only with other people, but also with a loving God. As we would expect, the literature does find that church attendance is positively associated with self-reported happiness (Green and Elliott 2010; Lewis and Cruise 2006; Stark and Meier 2008). Yet while attending church may offer some antidote to the harmful effects of social changes over the past few decades, church attendance itself appears to have declined in the United States over this period, although it might have stabilized in the last decade or two (Miller and Nakamura 1996; Presser and Chaves 2007). The simultaneous declines in church attendance and happiness among women suggests that there could be a significant association between the two. The hypothesis guiding this research is that the decline in female happiness over the past three and a half decades is in part a result of the drop in regular church attendance, an activity that normally supports the meanings and purposes of people’s lives, helping to sustain in them a positive and hopeful perspective. In this study, I will first seek to replicate the analysis of Stevenson and Wolfers that shows a decline in happiness among women over the past three and half decades. I will then examine church attendance as a factor that may help to account for this decline in women’s happiness during this period.