{"id":198691,"date":"2025-02-26T06:09:14","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T11:09:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?p=198691"},"modified":"2025-10-28T14:49:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T18:49:28","slug":"religion-and-views-of-right-and-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/02\/26\/religion-and-views-of-right-and-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"21. Religion and views of right and wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A majority of U.S. adults (55%) say that whether something is right or wrong often depends on the situation. Fewer than half say there are clear and absolute standards by which to decide whether something is right or wrong, according to the 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study (RLS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to a separate question, the survey finds that 68% of Americans say it is possible to be moral and have good values without believing in God. Just 30% say it is necessary to believe in God in order to be moral and have good values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Half of highly religious Americans say that belief in God is necessary to be moral and have good values, and 61% say there are clear and absolute standards for right and wrong.[78. numoffset=”78″ We measured religiousness using a scale based on four questions: prayer frequency, belief in God and\/or a universal spirit, religion\u2019s importance and religious service attendance. Each question was coded from 0 (low) to 2 (high). Prayer frequency is coded as 0 for those who seldom or never pray, 2 for those who pray daily, and 1 for everyone else. Belief in God\/a universal spirit is coded as 0 for those who do not believe in God or a universal spirit, 2 for those who believe with absolute certainty, and 1 for everyone else. Religion\u2019s importance is coded as 0 for those who say religion is \u201cnot too important\u201d or \u201cnot at all important\u201d in their lives, 2 for those who say religion is \u201cvery important\u201d in their lives, and 1 for everyone else. Religious attendance is coded as 0 for those who say they seldom or never attend religious services, 2 for those who attend religious services at least once a month, and 1 for everyone else. These indicators were added together to form a scale ranging from 0 to 8, and then subdivided roughly into quartiles (scores of 0 to 1 in the lowest quartile, scores of 2 to 4 in the medium-low quartile, scores of 5 to 6 in the medium-high quartile, and scores of 7 to 8 in the highest quartile).]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey also asked Americans about various factors they may consider when making moral decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slightly more than half of Americans (53%) say religious teachings and beliefs are extremely<\/em> important or very <\/em>important when making decisions between right and wrong. But the percentage of U.S. adults who say this is considerably lower than the shares who view practical experience and common sense (93%), logic and reason (92%) and scientific information (75%) as extremely or very important for moral decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The vast majority of U.S. adults at all levels of religiousness say that \u201cpractical experience and common sense\u201d and \u201clogic and reason\u201d are extremely or very important for deciding between right and wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highly religious Americans are less likely than those with low levels of religious engagement to consider scientific information to be an important factor in moral decisions. Nevertheless, a clear majority of the highly religious (67%) view scientific information as important. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not surprisingly, Americans who are highly religious are much more likely than those with low religious engagement to view religious principles as important for deciding between right and wrong. Overall, 94% of highly religious Americans say religious teachings and beliefs are extremely or very important to how they think about matters of right and wrong.[79. Pew Research Center has previously asked about the topics covered in this chapter. We asked the question about whether it is necessary to believe in God to be moral in a 2023 survey<\/a>, and we have asked a similar question with different wording on multiple other surveys. In recent years, these surveys have all found that people are more likely to say believing in God is not<\/em> necessary to be moral and have good values than to say the opposite. We asked the question about absolute standards of right and wrong on the 2014 RLS, but due to changes in the way the surveys were conducted, prior results cannot be accurately compared with the latest findings. (Refer to Appendix A<\/a> for details). Finally, the questions about whether respondents consider each of several factors when making decisions about right and wrong have not been previously asked, though the earlier landscape studies did ask respondents which factors they look to most<\/em><\/a> for guidance on questions of right and wrong.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jump to sections about religious groups\u2019 views on:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n