Study: Too much religion can harm economy

[rug]

Trevor Grundy | Aug 29, 2013

CANTERBURY, England (RNS) Too much religion can harm a society’s economy by undermining the drive for financial success, according to a new study in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.

The study of almost 190,000 people from 11 religiously diverse cultures is raising eyebrows among some of England’s religious leaders for suggesting Judaism and Christianity have anti-wealth norms.

Written by academics at University of Southampton in England and the Humboldt University of Berlin, the study found that religious people in religious cultures reported better psychological adjustment when their income was low.

The study cites the Bible to show how Judaism and Christianity turn upside down the belief that the highest possible income leads to the highest possible happiness and psychological adjustment.

http://www.religionnews.com/2013/08/29/study-too-much-religion-can-harm-economy/

I wonder what Max would think of this.

http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/jhamlin/1095/The%20Protestant%20Ethic%20and%20the%20Spirit%20of%20Capitalism.pdf

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. "Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich." - Napoleon Bonaparte

[madrchsod]

2. that study makes my head hurt

i guess there`s always someway to prove what someone is looking for.

[dimbear]

3. Once can't find trustworthy figures, but before Mao somewhere betwixt 1/4 and 1/2 of all Tibetan

males were priests. I know what Mao thought of that.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

4. I'll tell you what I see.

Dead, ruined downtowns; very few local businesses, having to drive 50 miles just to buy food with no choice other than Wallyworld,
no wealth, no fancy houses.

The only places with wealth are numerous nicely built, well-kept churches, and they are not being taxed.

[Jim__]

5. I don't believe those 11 countries are a representative sample of the world.

The academics conducted their interviews in 11 countries, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Turkey.

[rug]

6. You're right. Like many social studies it's western-centric.