{"id":273089,"date":"2025-09-04T09:50:34","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T13:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?p=273089"},"modified":"2026-02-06T13:40:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:40:39","slug":"what-do-nones-think-is-religions-impact-on-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/09\/04\/what-do-nones-think-is-religions-impact-on-society\/","title":{"rendered":"3. What do \u2018nones\u2019 think is religion\u2019s impact on society?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-callout has-ui-beige-very-light-background-color has-background is-layout-flow wp-container-core-group-is-layout-2130f694 wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-small-font-size\" id=\"what-are-religious-nones\">What are religious \u2018nones\u2019?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNones\u201d are adults who describe themselves religiously as atheist, agnostic or \u201cnothing in particular.\u201d This report uses the terms \u201cnones\u201d and \u201creligiously unaffiliated\u201d interchangeably.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Negative views about religion\u2019s influence on society are fairly common among \u201cnones\u201d across the 22 countries analyzed in this study.[15. numoffset=&#8221;15&#8243; The surveys, conducted in 2023 and 2024, <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/global\/2025\/01\/28\/comparing-levels-of-religious-nationalism-around-the-world\/\">included a total of 36 countries<\/a>, but this report focuses on the 22 countries where our surveys had large enough samples of religiously unaffiliated adults to break out and analyze their results separately.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We asked respondents three separate questions about the social impacts of religion: whether religion encourages <em>superstitious thinking<\/em>; whether religion encourages <em>tolerance <\/em>or<em> intolerance<\/em>; and whether religion <em>mostly helps <\/em>or<em> mostly<\/em> <em>hurts<\/em> society.[16. In the United States, we previously asked similar questions about the impact of religion on society using a slightly different scale. To learn more, read the 2023 report \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2023\/12\/07\/who-are-spiritual-but-not-religious-americans\/#religion-and-society\">Spirituality Among Americans<\/a>.\u201d]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In all 22 countries, at least half of religiously unaffiliated adults say that religion encourages superstitious thinking. This rises to 83% of \u201cnones\u201d in the United Kingdom and 84% in Greece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-420-wide\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?attachment_id=273209\"><img data-dominant-color=\"d0e3ea\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #d0e3ea;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_03-01.png?resize=480,656 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_03-01.png?resize=782,1069 782w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_03-01.png?resize=840,1148 840w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"574\" width=\"420\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_03-01.png?w=749\" alt=\"Bar chart showing many \u2018nones\u2019 say religion encourages superstition and intolerance \u2013 and hurts society\" class=\"wp-image-273209 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In about half of the countries, a majority of \u201cnones\u201d also say religion encourages intolerance. This includes 76% of \u201cnones\u201d in Australia and 73% each in Germany and Sweden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNones\u201d in Europe tend to be especially likely to voice negative views of religion. For example, most religiously unaffiliated adults in Spain say that religion encourages superstitious thinking (77%) and intolerance (71%), and that it mostly hurts society (62%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, in a handful of countries in other regions, religiously unaffiliated people are more positive about religion. In Brazil, Singapore and South Africa, for instance, only about a quarter or fewer of \u201cnones\u201d say religion mostly hurts society. Majorities of \u201cnones\u201d in these countries say religion mostly <em>helps<\/em> society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-420-wide\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?attachment_id=273210\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f2f2f0\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f2f2f0;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_03-02.png?resize=480,867 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_03-02.png?resize=782,1413 782w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_03-02.png?resize=840,1518 840w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"759\" width=\"420\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_03-02.png?w=567\" alt=\"Chart showing religiously affiliated adults are less likely than \u2018nones\u2019 to view religion as harmful\" class=\"wp-image-273210 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a general pattern around the world, though, \u201cnones\u201d are much more likely than adults with a religious affiliation to express negative views about religion. In Greece, for example, 74% of \u201cnones\u201d say religion mostly <em>hurts<\/em> society, compared with 23% of people identifying with a religion (mostly Christianity) who say this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNones\u201d also are more likely than the religiously affiliated to say religion encourages superstition and intolerance. They are <em>less <\/em>likely than the affiliated to view religious traits as important for national leaders, and less inclined to say that religious texts should influence national laws. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-callout has-ui-beige-very-light-background-color has-background is-layout-flow wp-container-core-group-is-layout-2130f694 wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jump to sections on:<\/strong> <a href=\"#views-of-nones-on-the-religion-of-their-country-s-leader\">Views of \u2018nones\u2019 on the religion of their country\u2019s leader<\/a> |<a href=\"#what-nones-say-about-religion-s-influence-on-their-country-s-laws\">What \u2018nones\u2019 say about religion\u2019s influence on their country\u2019s laws<\/a><a href=\"#_Belief_in_ancestral\"><\/a>| <a href=\"#differences-in-the-views-of-nones\">Differences in the views of \u2018nones\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;views-of-nones-on-the-religion-of-their-country-s-leader&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"views-of-nones-on-the-religion-of-their-country-s-leader\">Views of \u2018nones\u2019 on the religion of their country\u2019s leader<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Relatively few \u201cnones\u201d (a median of 13% across the 22 countries covered in this report) say it is important for the leader of their country to have religious beliefs that are the same as their own.[17. The term used for the national leader in the questionnaire varies across the countries surveyed. Respondents were asked about the qualities of the president in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, South Korea and the U.S. Respondents were asked about the qualities of the prime minister in Australia, Canada, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Respondents were asked about the qualities of the chancellor in Germany.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-420-wide\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?attachment_id=273211\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e4ecef\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e4ecef;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_03-03.png?resize=480,690 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_03-03.png?resize=782,1125 782w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_03-03.png?resize=840,1208 840w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"604\" width=\"420\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_03-03.png?w=712\" alt=\"Bar chart showing few \u2018nones\u2019 say it is important for their country\u2019s leader to share their beliefs\" class=\"wp-image-273211 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Similarly low shares (16% median) say it\u2019s important for their national leader to have strong religious beliefs, even if those beliefs differ from their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Overall, slightly higher shares of \u201cnones\u201d say it is important to have a leader who stands up for people with their religious beliefs (28% median).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, in the Netherlands, 7% of \u201cnones\u201d say it\u2019s important for the prime minister to share their beliefs, while 16% say it is important for the prime minister to have strong religious beliefs, and 24% say it is important for the prime minister to stand up for people with their religious beliefs (i.e., the religiously unaffiliated respondent\u2019s beliefs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">South Africa stands out as the only country where half or more of \u201cnones\u201d say all three measures are important, including 68% who say it is important for the president to stand up for people with their religious beliefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;what-nones-say-about-religion-s-influence-on-their-country-s-laws&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-nones-say-about-religion-s-influence-on-their-country-s-laws\">What \u2018nones\u2019 say about religion\u2019s influence on their country\u2019s laws<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The survey also asked how much influence religious texts or teachings currently have on the laws of each country, and whether respondents think these sacred texts or teachings <em>should<\/em> have that much influence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The specific text mentioned in the question depended on the historically predominant religion in each country.[18. In countries where Christianity has been a historically predominant religion, respondents were asked about the influence of the Bible. In countries where Buddhism has been a historically predominant religion, we asked about \u201cBuddhist dharma,\u201d or teachings. In Japan, we also asked about Shinto teachings. For attitudes toward the influence of religious texts in national laws across all three dozen countries surveyed, read \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/global\/2025\/01\/28\/should-religious-texts-influence-national-laws\/\">Comparing Levels of Religious Nationalism Around the World<\/a>.\u201d]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In many of the 22 countries covered here, \u201cnones\u201d are significantly more likely to say that religious texts <em>do<\/em> play a role in their country\u2019s laws than to say that those texts <em>should<\/em> play a role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-310-wide\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?attachment_id=273212\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e7eced\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e7eced;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_03-04.png?resize=480,1144 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_03-04.png?resize=620,1478 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"739\" width=\"310\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_03-04.png?w=430\" alt=\"Chart showing relatively few unaffiliated people want religious texts to influence their laws\" class=\"wp-image-273212 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In South Korea, for example, \u201cnones\u201d are three times as likely to say the Bible <em>currently has<\/em> a great deal or fair amount of influence on the laws of their country as they are to say the Bible <em>should<\/em> <em>have<\/em> that level of influence on their laws (34% vs. 11%). A similar pattern occurs when South Korean \u201cnones\u201d are asked about the influence of Buddhist dharma on their country\u2019s laws (30% vs. 10%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In almost all countries analyzed, a quarter or fewer of \u201cnones\u201d say that religious texts or teachings <em>should have <\/em>a great deal or a fair amount of influence on laws. However, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and South Africa stand out as exceptions; in these countries, close to half of \u201cnones\u201d say the Bible should have at least a fair amount of influence on their country\u2019s laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greece and the United States are the only places where a majority of \u201cnones\u201d say the Bible <em>currently has<\/em> at least a fair amount of influence on the laws in their country. The unaffiliated in Hungary, Mexico, Singapore and Sweden are the least likely to say that a religious text has influence over their laws; in those four countries, only about a fifth or fewer of \u201cnones\u201d take that position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;differences-in-the-views-of-nones&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"differences-in-the-views-of-nones\">Differences in the views of \u2018nones\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Overall, \u201cnones\u201d who say religion is <em>not at all<\/em> important to them are much more likely than \u201cnones\u201d who ascribe at least a little importance to religion to view religion\u2019s role in society negatively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, in Canada, 74% of \u201cnones\u201d who say religion is not at all important in their lives also express the view that religion mostly hurts society. Among other Canadian \u201cnones,\u201d 48% say religion mostly hurts society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-420-wide\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?attachment_id=273213\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f2f2f1\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f2f2f1;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_03-05.png?resize=480,757 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_03-05.png?resize=782,1233 782w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_03-05.png?resize=840,1324 840w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"662\" width=\"420\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_03-05.png?w=650\" alt=\"Chart showing \u2018nones\u2019 who place no personal importance on religion are more likely to see religion as harmful to society\" class=\"wp-image-273213 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And in most surveyed countries where we have enough \u201cnones\u201d in both groups to make the comparison, \u201cnones\u201d who view religion as not at all important in their lives are significantly <em>less<\/em> likely than \u201cnones\u201d who say religion is at least a little important to think that religious texts should influence their country\u2019s laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Chile, for instance, just 8% of \u201cnones\u201d who say religion is <em>not at all<\/em> important to them want the Bible to have at least some influence on their laws. Among other \u201cnones\u201d in Chile, about three times as many hold this view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Similar divides emerge between \u201cnones\u201d who say religion is not at all important and other \u201cnones\u201d on the questions about the importance of their national leader\u2019s religious beliefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are no clear or consistent differences between younger and older \u201cnones\u201d \u2013 nor between religiously unaffiliated women and men \u2013 on views toward religion\u2019s role in society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, in the U.S., \u201cnones\u201d with at least an associate degree express less favorable views toward religion than do \u201cnones\u201d with less education. But this difference among \u201cnones\u201d by education is not widely present across the other countries surveyed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Negative views of religion\u2019s influence on society are fairly common among religious \u201cnones,\u201d which include atheists and agnostics, in the 22 countries we analyzed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":675,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_api_pending":"","apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_hidden":false,"relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[382,161,169,412,160,195],"tags":[],"bylines":[866,550,701],"collection":[],"datasets":[2610,2445,2774,2789],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[458],"_fund_pool":[2769],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[507,516,504,514,513,509,505,512,515],"research-teams":[525,517],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-273089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-atheism-agnosticism","category-beliefs-practices","category-non-religion-secularism","category-pew-templeton-global-religious-futures-project","category-religious-identity-affiliation","category-religiously-unaffiliated","bylines-jonathan-evans","bylines-kirsten-lesage","bylines-manolo-corichi","datasets-2023-24-religious-landscape-study-rls-dataset","datasets-american-trends-panel-wave-132","datasets-american-trends-panel-wave-143","datasets-spring-2024-survey-data","formats-report","regions-countries-asia-pacific","regions-countries-europe-russia","regions-countries-germany","regions-countries-international","regions-countries-latin-america","regions-countries-mexico","regions-countries-multiple-regions-worldwide","regions-countries-north-america","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-global","research-teams-religion"],"label":false,"post_parent":273071,"word_count":1323,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/09\/04\/what-do-nones-think-is-religions-impact-on-society\/","art_direction":{"A2":{"id":273260,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_featured.jpg","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_featured.jpg?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":273260,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_featured.jpg","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_featured.jpg?w=720&h=405&crop=1","width":720,"height":405,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":273260,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_featured.jpg","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_featured.jpg?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"A4":{"id":273260,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_featured.jpg","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_featured.jpg?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"A1":{"id":273260,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_featured.jpg","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_featured.jpg?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"social":{"id":273260,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_featured.jpg","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_featured.jpg?w=1200&h=628&crop=1","width":1200,"height":628,"caption":"","chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[{"id":273071,"title":"Many Religious \u2018Nones\u2019 Around the World Hold Spiritual Beliefs","slug":"many-religious-nones-around-the-world-hold-spiritual-beliefs","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/09\/04\/many-religious-nones-around-the-world-hold-spiritual-beliefs\/","is_active":false},{"id":273083,"title":"1. What do religious \u2018nones\u2019 believe?","slug":"what-do-religious-nones-believe","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/09\/04\/what-do-religious-nones-believe\/","is_active":false},{"id":273086,"title":"2. Do \u2018nones\u2019 follow religious practices?","slug":"do-nones-follow-religious-practices","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/09\/04\/do-nones-follow-religious-practices\/","is_active":false},{"id":273089,"title":"3. What do \u2018nones\u2019 think is religion\u2019s impact on society?","slug":"what-do-nones-think-is-religions-impact-on-society","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/09\/04\/what-do-nones-think-is-religions-impact-on-society\/","is_active":true},{"id":273091,"title":"Acknowledgments","slug":"religious-nones-around-the-world-acknowledgments","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/09\/04\/religious-nones-around-the-world-acknowledgments\/","is_active":false},{"id":273093,"title":"Methodology","slug":"religious-nones-around-the-world-methodology","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/09\/04\/religious-nones-around-the-world-methodology\/","is_active":false}],"report_materials":[{"key":"_y6j0yqj56","type":"report","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/09\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_report.pdf","label":"Report PDF","attachmentId":273390},{"key":"_6mcdqzhv9","type":"topline","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/PR_2025.09.04_religious-nones-around-the-world_topline.pdf","label":"Topline","attachmentId":273134},{"key":"_gfbzyo03a","type":"link","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2026\/02\/06\/errata-many-religious-nones-around-the-world-hold-spiritual-beliefs\/","label":"Report errata","icon":"detailedTable"},{"type":"dataset","id":2610,"label":"2023-24 Religious Landscape Study (RLS) Dataset","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/dataset\/2023-24-religious-landscape-study-rls-dataset\/"},{"type":"dataset","id":2445,"label":"American Trends Panel Wave 132","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/dataset\/american-trends-panel-wave-132\/"},{"type":"dataset","id":2774,"label":"American Trends Panel Wave 143","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/dataset\/american-trends-panel-wave-143\/"},{"type":"dataset","id":2789,"label":"Spring 2024 Survey Data","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/dataset\/spring-2024-survey-data\/"}],"report_pagination":{"current_post":{"id":273089,"title":"3. What do \u2018nones\u2019 think is religion\u2019s impact on society?","slug":"what-do-nones-think-is-religions-impact-on-society","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/09\/04\/what-do-nones-think-is-religions-impact-on-society\/","is_active":true,"page_num":4},"next_post":{"id":273091,"title":"Acknowledgments","slug":"religious-nones-around-the-world-acknowledgments","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/09\/04\/religious-nones-around-the-world-acknowledgments\/","is_active":false,"page_num":5},"previous_post":{"id":273086,"title":"2. Do \u2018nones\u2019 follow religious practices?","slug":"do-nones-follow-religious-practices","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/09\/04\/do-nones-follow-religious-practices\/","is_active":false,"page_num":3},"pagination_items":[{"id":273071,"title":"Many Religious \u2018Nones\u2019 Around the World Hold Spiritual Beliefs","slug":"many-religious-nones-around-the-world-hold-spiritual-beliefs","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/09\/04\/many-religious-nones-around-the-world-hold-spiritual-beliefs\/","is_active":false,"page_num":1},{"id":273083,"title":"1. What do religious \u2018nones\u2019 believe?","slug":"what-do-religious-nones-believe","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/09\/04\/what-do-religious-nones-believe\/","is_active":false,"page_num":2},{"id":273086,"title":"2. Do \u2018nones\u2019 follow religious practices?","slug":"do-nones-follow-religious-practices","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/09\/04\/do-nones-follow-religious-practices\/","is_active":false,"page_num":3},{"id":273089,"title":"3. What do \u2018nones\u2019 think is religion\u2019s impact on society?","slug":"what-do-nones-think-is-religions-impact-on-society","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/09\/04\/what-do-nones-think-is-religions-impact-on-society\/","is_active":true,"page_num":4},{"id":273091,"title":"Acknowledgments","slug":"religious-nones-around-the-world-acknowledgments","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/09\/04\/religious-nones-around-the-world-acknowledgments\/","is_active":false,"page_num":5},{"id":273093,"title":"Methodology","slug":"religious-nones-around-the-world-methodology","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/09\/04\/religious-nones-around-the-world-methodology\/","is_active":false,"page_num":6}]},"parent_info":{"parent_title":"Many Religious \u2018Nones\u2019 Around the World Hold Spiritual Beliefs","parent_id":273071},"materialsOrdered":[],"chaptersOrdered":[],"partsOrdered":[],"partsEnabled":false,"datacite_doi":"Evans, Jonathan, Kirsten Lesage and Manolo Corichi.  2025.  \"Many Religious \u2018Nones\u2019 Around the World Hold Spiritual Beliefs.\"  Pew Research Center. doi: 10.58094\/695q-4j55.","prc_seo_data":{"title":"What do religious \u201cnones\u201d globally think about religion\u2019s societal impact?","description":"Negative views of religion\u2019s influence on society are fairly common among religious \u201cnones,\u201d which include atheists and agnostics, in the 22 countries we analyzed.","og_title":"3. What do \u2018nones\u2019 think is religion\u2019s impact on society?","og_description":"Negative views of religion\u2019s influence on society are fairly common among religious \u201cnones,\u201d which include atheists and agnostics, in the 22 countries we analyzed.","schema_type":"Article","noindex":false,"canonical_url":"","primary_terms":{"category":195,"formats":458,"regions-countries":505,"research-teams":517},"custom_schema":[],"og_image":273260,"indexnow_submitted_at":null,"gsc_index_status":null},"prepublish_checks":{"prc-image-alt-text":{"status":"complete","message":"All images have alt text.","data":null},"prc-about-this-research":{"status":"incomplete","message":"Add an \"About this research\" details block.","data":null},"prc-paragraph-count":{"status":"complete","message":"Found 28 paragraphs.","data":{"count":28}},"prc-internal-link":{"status":"complete","message":"Found 8 internal links.","data":{"count":8}}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"relatedPostsOrdered":[],"bylinesOrdered":[],"acknowledgementsOrdered":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/675"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273089"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":273559,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273089\/revisions\/273559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273089"},{"taxonomy":"bylines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bylines?post=273089"},{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=273089"},{"taxonomy":"datasets","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/datasets?post=273089"},{"taxonomy":"level_of_effort","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/level_of_effort?post=273089"},{"taxonomy":"primary_audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/primary_audience?post=273089"},{"taxonomy":"information_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/information_type?post=273089"},{"taxonomy":"_post_visibility","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_post_visibility?post=273089"},{"taxonomy":"formats","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/formats?post=273089"},{"taxonomy":"_fund_pool","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_fund_pool?post=273089"},{"taxonomy":"languages","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/languages?post=273089"},{"taxonomy":"regions-countries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions-countries?post=273089"},{"taxonomy":"research-teams","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-teams?post=273089"},{"taxonomy":"workflow-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/workflow-status?post=273089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}