{"id":7844,"date":"2023-12-19T14:59:15","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T19:59:15","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-04-23T23:59:15","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T03:59:15","slug":"a-majority-of-americans-have-a-friend-of-a-different-religion","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2023\/12\/19\/a-majority-of-americans-have-a-friend-of-a-different-religion\/","title":{"rendered":"A majority of Americans have a friend of a different religion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s common for Americans to have friends of a different religion than their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Overall, about four-in-ten U.S. adults (37%) say that all or most of their friends have the same religion they do. But about six-in-ten (61%) report having at least some friends whose religion differs from their own, according to a December 2022 Pew Research Center survey. That includes 43% who say only <em>some<\/em> of their friends have the same religion they do and another 18% who say <em>hardly any<\/em> or <em>none<\/em> of their friends do.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"border-width:1px;padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);--block-gap: inherit\" class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible has-background has-ui-beige-very-light-background-color has-border-color has-ui-beige-dark-border-color\" id=\"how-we-did-this\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/collapsible&quot;}\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;collapsibleId&quot;:&quot;how-we-did-this&quot;,&quot;isOpen&quot;:false}\" data-wp-class--is-open=\"context.isOpen\" data-wp-init--scroll-into-view=\"callbacks.onInitScrollIntoView\"><div class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__title\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.onClick\"><div>How we did this<\/div><button class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__icon\"><span data-wp-bind--hidden=\"context.isOpen\"><i class=\"icon icon-library__light icon__circle-plus\"><svg style=\"width: 1em; height: 1em;\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/plugins\/prc-icon-library\/build\/icons\/sprites\/light.svg#circle-plus\"><\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/span><span data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!context.isOpen\" hidden><i class=\"icon icon-library__light icon__circle-minus\"><svg style=\"width: 1em; height: 1em;\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/plugins\/prc-icon-library\/build\/icons\/sprites\/light.svg#circle-minus\"><\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/span><\/button><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__content\">\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to see how common it is for Americans to be friends with people who have different religions than their own. For this analysis, we surveyed 5,132 U.S. adults from Dec. 5 to 11, 2022. Here are the <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/SR_23.12.16_friendship_topline.pdf\">questions used for this analysis<\/a>, along with responses, and its <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2023\/04\/18\/podcasts-methodology\/\">methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This analysis also includes separate findings about how often Americans discuss religion with others, based on a survey of 6,364 U.S. adults conducted March 18-April 1, 2019. Here are the <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/11\/PF_11.15.19_trust.in_.religion_TOPLINE.pdf\">questions used for this analysis<\/a>, along with responses, and its <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2019\/11\/15\/methodology-29\/\">methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Everyone who took part in both surveys is a member of the Center\u2019s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/our-methods\/u-s-surveys\/the-american-trends-panel\/\">the&nbsp;ATP\u2019s methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-640-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-9371\" href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2023\/12\/19\/a-majority-of-americans-have-a-friend-of-a-different-religion\/sr_23-12-16_friendship_1-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e0e9eb\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e0e9eb;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/12\/SR_23.12.16_friendship_1.png?resize=480,414 480w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/12\/SR_23.12.16_friendship_1.png?resize=782,674 782w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/12\/SR_23.12.16_friendship_1.png?resize=960,828 960w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/12\/SR_23.12.16_friendship_1.png?resize=1200,1035 1200w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/12\/SR_23.12.16_friendship_1.png?resize=1280,1104 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"552\" width=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/12\/SR_23.12.16_friendship_1.png?w=640\" alt=\"A bar chart showing that a majority of Americans say that only some, hardly any or none of their friends are the same religion as them.\" class=\"wp-image-9371 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Americans\u2019 friend groups tend to be more alike in ways other than their religious composition. Broad majorities of Americans with at least one close friend say all or most of their close friends are the same gender as they are (66%) and the same race or ethnicity (63%), a <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2023\/10\/12\/what-does-friendship-look-like-in-america\/\">separate survey from July 2023<\/a> found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, some demographic groups stand out for having greater religious diversity among their friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Men, younger adults and those with less education are slightly more likely than other Americans to say <em>hardly any<\/em> or <em>none<\/em> of their friends share their religion. For example, 20% of U.S. adults with a high school diploma or less education say hardly any or none of their friends have the same religion they do, compared with 14% of those whose highest level of education is a bachelor\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Related: <\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2023\/10\/11\/religion-among-asian-americans\/#other-key-findings\"><em>30% of Asian Americans say all or most of their friends have the same religion they do<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"differences-by-religious-identity\">Differences by religious identity<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Particularly large shares of \u201cnones\u201d \u2013 those who identify religiously as atheist, agnostic or \u201cnothing in particular\u201d \u2013 report having friends whose religious identities differ from their own. About four-in-ten (39%) in this group say only <em>some<\/em> of their friends have the same religion they do, while another 32% say <em>hardly any<\/em> or <em>none<\/em> of them do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other groups, in turn, are more likely to have religiously <em>similar<\/em> friend circles. Members of historically Black Protestant churches (59%) and Hispanic Catholics (54%), for example, are among the most likely of all Christian groups analyzed to say <em>all<\/em> or <em>most<\/em> of their friends have the same religion they do. This includes 13% of those in the historically Black Protestant tradition who say <em>all <\/em>of their friends share their religion. (There are&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2022\/08\/08\/why-pew-research-center-typically-cant-report-the-views-of-smaller-u-s-religious-groups\/\">not enough respondents from smaller U.S. religious groups<\/a>, such as Muslims and Jews, to report on their answers separately.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s important to note that how Americans define religious belonging may vary. For example, it\u2019s unclear whether all Christian respondents would consider a friend from a different Christian denomination as having \u201cthe same religion\u201d as they do, or whether atheists would consider agnosticism the same religion \u2013 or a religion at all, for that matter. These findings only reflect Americans\u2019 <em>self-perceptions<\/em> of their religion and others\u2019 connections to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perhaps unsurprisingly, Americans who highly value religion are much more likely to have friendship circles where most people are from their own religious tradition. More than four-in-ten U.S. adults who say religion is very or somewhat important in their lives (44%) say all or most of their friends have the same religion they do. Just a quarter of those who say religion is not too or not at all important in their lives report the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"talking-about-religion-with-others\">Talking about religion with others<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While it\u2019s common for Americans to befriend people from different faiths, most do not discuss religion with others very frequently, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2019\/11\/15\/americans-trust-both-religious-and-nonreligious-people-but-most-rarely-discuss-religion-with-family-or-friends\/#most-u-s-adults-do-not-talk-with-family-others-about-religion-on-a-regular-basis\">separate survey conducted in spring 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Only about three-in-ten U.S. adults (31%) said in 2019 that they talk about religion with others outside their family once or twice a month or more often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the same survey, 62% of U.S. adults said that when someone disagrees with them about religion, it\u2019s best to try to understand the person\u2019s belief and agree to disagree. A third said it\u2019s better to avoid discussing religion with the person, while just 4% said it\u2019s best to try to persuade the other person to change their mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Note: Here are the <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/SR_23.12.16_friendship_topline.pdf\">questions used for this analysis<\/a>, along with responses, and its <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2023\/04\/18\/podcasts-methodology\/\">methodology<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Research Analyst Michelle Faverio contributed to this analysis.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About six-in-ten U.S. adults say only some (43%) or hardly any or none (18%) of their friends have the same religion they 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