Religion and human flourishing – new empirical approaches

There is now good evidence that participation in religious community positively affects health. The empirical evidence of the contribution of religion to many other flourishing outcomes, however, is not yet as strong and needs further study. The proposed project will use multiple large longitudinal data sources, collected over many years, to study the role of religion in promoting human flourishing, including health, but also looking at the effects of religion on happiness and life satisfaction, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, and close social relationships. The quality of the data and the strength of the methodology that is employed will surpass anything in the field to date on these other flourishing topics beyond health. Empirical data analyses will be carried out, numerous papers will be published in highly ranked journals, a book for a general audience will be produced summarizing the work, and the results will be disseminated at Harvard University, at national conferences, and beyond. The project will powerfully inform the role of religion in promoting human flourishing.