Written by Sutherland Institute
October 20, 2025
SALT LAKE CITY (October 20, 2025) – Today, Sutherland Institute released three new research publications on the societal benefits of religion for schools, family, and public health.
Highlights across the publications:
- Stable institutions with strong identities are more capable of hosting respectful disagreement than those with vague or conflicted missions.
- Religious affiliation often fosters habits of participation, responsibility, and moral attentiveness that translate into higher levels of public involvement.
- Religious frameworks reduce stress and anxiety by offering coherent worldviews, practices of prayer and meditation, and rituals that provide stability and meaning.
- Americans who regularly attend religious services are 30 to 50 percent less likely to divorce than their non-religious counterparts.
- Active religious couples report being 15 percentage points more likely to describe themselves as “very happily married” compared to secular couples.
The findings and recommendations are highlighted in Sutherland’s newest publications, available here:
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