While Most U.S. Adults Believe in God, Only 58 Percent are "Absolutely Certain"

Multinational surveys have often reported that Americans are much more likely to believe in God than people in most other developed countries, particularly in Europe. However, a new Harris Poll finds that 42 percent of all U.S. adults say they are not "absolutely certain" there is a God, including 15 percent who are "somewhat certain," 11 percent who think there is probably no God and 16 percent who are not sure.

These are the results of a Harris Poll conducted online by Harris Interactive^® between October 4 and 10, 2006 with a nationwide sample of 2,010 U.S. adults.

Over the last few years, several different surveys have found that more people admit to potentially embarrassing beliefs or behaviors when answering online surveys (without interviewers) than admit to these behaviors when talking to interviewers in telephone surveys. They are also three times more likely to say that their sexual orientation is gay, lesbian or bi-sexual. Researchers call this unwillingness to give honest answers to some questions in telephone surveys a "social desirability bias."

It is therefore no surprise that in this online survey, more people say they are not absolutely certain there is a God than have given similar replies in other surveys conducted by telephone.

Not everyone who describes themselves as Christian or Jewish believes in God. Indeed, only 76 percent of Protestants, 64 percent of Catholics, and 30 percent of Jews say they are "absolutely certain" there is a God. However, most Christians who describe themselves as "Born Again" (93%) are absolutely certain there is a God.

Demographic groups that are more likely to say they are absolutely certain that there is a God include:

• People in all age groups 40 and over (63% of those ages 40 to 49, 65% of those ages 50 to 64 and 65% of those ages 65 and over) compared to people in age groups under 40 (45% of those ages 18 to 24, 43% of those ages 25 to 29 and 54% of those ages 30 to 39);
• Women (62%) slightly more than men (54%);
• African Americans (71%) compared to Hispanics (61%) and Whites (57%);
• Republicans (73%) more than Democrats (54%) or Independents (51%);
• People with no college education (62%) or who have some college education (57%) compared to college graduates (50%) and those with post-graduate degrees (53%).

Approximately one-third (35%) of all adults claim to attend a religious service once a month or more often, including 26 percent who say they attend every week or more often. Almost half of all adults (46%) say they attend services a few times a year or less often, while eighteen percent say the never attend religious services.

Those who attend religious services once a month or more often include 48 percent of Protestants, 46 percent of Catholics, and 12 percent of Jews. However, more than two-thirds (68%) of Born Again Christians attend Church once a month or more often.

The public is almost equally divided between those who think of God as male (36%) and "neither male nor female" (37%), with 10 percent saying "both male and female." Only one percent thinks of God as a female.

A substantial plurality of the public (41%) thinks of God as "a spirit or power that can take on human form but is not inherently human." Just over one-quarter (27%) thinks of God as a "spirit or power that does not take on human form," while only nine percent of adults think of God as being "like a human being with a face, body, arms, legs, eyes, etc."

Less than one-third of all adults (29%) believe that God "controls what happens on Earth" (this includes 57% of Born Again Christians). A plurality (44%) believes that God "observes but does not control what happens on Earth."

About half (51%) of all adults, including a majority of Catholics (63%), believe that Jews, Christians and Muslims all worship the same God. One-third (32%) believes they do not and 16 percent are not sure. On this question, as on the others, the views of Born Again Christians are different – a 54 percent majority believes they do not worship the same God and only 34 percent believe they do.

Three years ago, in an identical survey, 79 percent of adults said they believed in God and 66 percent said they were absolutely certain that there is a God. In this new survey, those numbers have declined to 73 percent and 58 percent respectively.

"Are you…?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding.

*Less than 0.5%

DEMOGRAPHIC VARIATIONS IN BELIEF IN GOD AND CERTAINTY OF BELIEF

Base: All Adults

"Do you attend religious services?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding.

*Less than 0.5%

Base: All Adults

"If there is a God, do you think of God as male or female or neither?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding.

*Less than 0.5%

"Do you think of God as being…?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding.

Do you think God…?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding.

"Do you think that the Jews, Christians and Muslims all worship the same God or not?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding.

This Harris Poll^® was conducted online within the United States between October 4 and 10, 2006 among 2,010 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

All surveys are subject to several sources of error. These include: sampling error (because only a sample of a population is interviewed); measurement error due to question wording and/or question order, deliberately or unintentionally inaccurate responses, nonresponse (including refusals), interviewer effects (when live interviewers are used) and weighting.

With one exception (sampling error) the magnitude of the errors that result cannot be estimated. There is, therefore, no way to calculate a finite "margin of error" for any survey and the use of these words should be avoided.

With pure probability samples, with 100 percent response rates, it is possible to calculate the probability that the sampling error (but not other sources of error) is not greater than some number. With a pure probability sample of 2,010 one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- two percentage points. Sampling error for data based on sub-samples would be higher and would vary. However that does not take other sources of error into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

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