Researchers spend millions of dollars studying what leads to happiness. One key finding keeps emerging: Religious people are happier than others.
And the difference is not small. Overall, people of faith tend to be 25% happier than others. This finding holds true across many countries and time periods!
As one study puts it, "There is no country in which the data show that active religious participants are significantly less happy than others." How extraordinary!
But why? What makes faith communities happier?
The reasons are still up for debate. Few studies have examined why people of faith tend to be happier.
I've reviewed them, however, and done my own research combining the methods of positive psychology and my work as a rabbi in the trenches of life. Here are the five key reasons:
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