(RNS) — A first-of-its-kind Pew Research Center study of religious practices and spiritual beliefs in more than 30 countries shows beliefs in spirits and life after death are common around the world.
The study, published on Tuesday (May 6), polled 50,000 people across 36 countries about their beliefs in the afterlife, spells, curses, and spirit ancestors. The survey also asked respondents about whether they carried religious items, consulted fortune tellers, and lit candles or incense for spiritual reasons.
According to the study, most adults (64% median across countries) believe in life after death. Eighty-five percent of respondents in Indonesia said there is “definitely or probably life after death,” the highest percentage worldwide, followed by Turkey and Kenya, where 84% and 80% agreed, respectively. Seventy percent of Americans indicated belief in the afterlife. In Sweden, only 38% agreed, the lowest recorded.
Researchers tried to capture precisely what it means to be religious or spiritual, and what aspects of spirituality people connect with most, said Jonathan Evans, a senior researcher at the Pew Research Center.
“We wanted to see in people’s lived experiences, what do they believe? What do they practice?” he said. “Potentially, sometimes they believe or practice things that are not considered by some folks as orthodox to their tradition.”
The survey marked the first time Pew asked respondents across six continents at the same time about practices related to Buddhism, Asian folk religions, and New Age spirituality. These new questions cover a “wide set of dimensions of religion and spirituality,” Evans said, where previous surveys were more focused on the beliefs and practices particular to specific regions.
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The study shows beliefs in animals having spirits are fairly common across countries (62% median), with minimal differences based on the country’s religious majority. In India, which is predominantly Hindu, 83% said they believed animals “can have spirits or spiritual energies,” the highest of any countries. In Hinduism, several animals are considered sacred, such as cows, elephants and monkeys. Next was Greece, where 82% agreed animals have spirits, and 81% in Muslim-majority Turkey, according to the survey. In the U.S., 57% agreed.
A majority of respondents said they believe nature, mountains, rivers or trees have spirits (56% median). In Thailand, which is predominantly Buddhist, 73% agreed, and 57% in Indonesia, which is primarily Muslim, agreed.
Even in countries where people were less religious, a majority of respondents said they believe in spirits and life after death, the survey found. For example, in Sweden and Japan, only 7% said religion is very important to them, but 65% and 69%, respectively, believe animals and nature could have spiritual energies.
The study also shows generational differences shift when considering spiritual beliefs compared with traditional religious beliefs and related practices such as service attendance and prayer. Adults over age 50 were more likely to say religion was very important in their lives, according to past Pew research, compared with younger adults (ages 18 to 34). Likewise, younger adults are less likely to identify with any religion. This study confirmed that’s true in most countries.
However, younger adults are more likely to say they believe in spirits and spiritual energies across countries. The widest gaps were in Colombia, where 80% of those between 18 and 34 said they believed in spirits and spiritual energies, and 56% of those 50 and older agreed.
“This is the opposite pattern that we’ve seen from around the world on people who say they pray daily,” Evans said.
The study also highlights the wide array of beliefs held by religiously unaffiliated adults, often referred to as “nones,” across countries. Though nones were less likely to engage in most religious practices, in some countries they tended to adopt some beliefs often embraced by religious groups. For example, in Mexico, 61% of the religiously unaffiliated said they believed in something spiritual beyond the natural world, compared to 63% of Christians.
The study also shows beliefs in spells, curses and magic were broadly held across the four African countries surveyed: Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. More than 50% of adults in Latin American countries surveyed shared those beliefs, as did 30% in the U.S.
Generally, people who said religion was very important in their lives were more likely to believe in curses, spells or magic.
Though less than a quarter of respondents in most countries said they consulted a fortune teller, horoscope or other ways to see their futures, women were more likely to do so than men. Women were also more likely than men to carry religious items, according to the study.
The study also explores connections between a country’s wealth and attitudes toward spiritual ideas. Though wealthy countries usually present a lower level of religiosity, the study’s questions on spiritual practices show those beliefs are less connected to a country’s wealth.
Though respondents in rich countries were less likely than those in developing countries to believe in spells, curses and magic, the gap narrowed between respondents in wealthy and developing countries on whether they believed in spirit ancestors’ abilities to harm them.
The study also establishes links between one’s likelihood of lighting incense and candles for spiritual and religious reasons and respondents’ level of education. In Greece, 57% of adults who were less educated lit candles for spiritual reasons, as opposed to 36% among the more educated. And in Nigeria, 50% of the less educated lit candles for spiritual reasons, and 30% of the more educated did.
In five countries, a majority of respondents indicated they light candles or incense for spiritual or religious reasons: India (91%), Thailand (73%), Sri Lanka (70%), the Philippines (65%) and South Africa (63%). In America, only 20% did.