More School, Less Church

Social science has traditionally considered education and religion to be somewhat opposing forces. As societies become more educated, the reasoning goes, they will become less religious — a phenomenon known as the “secularization hypothesis.”

Recent trends have complicated this understanding, particularly in the United States. Educational attainment has been on a steady rise for decades, but Americans are, by and large, just as religious as ever — if not more so. A 2002 Harvard study of 59 countries found that increased economic development led to increases in some forms of religious behaviors, like overall belief, but declines in things like church attendance. Overall, the evidence on the secularization hypothesis is, at best, mixed.

Now, new research out from economists at Louisiana State University provides new evidence in support of the secularization hypothesis, at least as it pertains to some religious and superstitious behaviors. Not only that, but it also uncovers evidence of a causal link between increased schooling and decreased religiosity.

The study finds that more education, in the form of more years of formal schooling, has “consistently large negative effects” on an individual’s likelihood of attending religious services, as well as their likelihood of praying frequently. More schooling also makes people less likely to harbor superstitious beliefs, like belief in the protective power of lucky charms (rabbit’s feet, four leaf clovers), or a tendency to take horoscopes seriously.

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