Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether sex, age, race, income, education, and marital status are associated with having a religion in a sample of Brazilian men and women.
Methods: Data were obtained from 15,098 participants of the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health, a longitudinal study that ultimately aims to investigate long-term outcomes of chronic diseases. The sociodemographic characteristics and data on religion status were self-reported during interviews conducted by trained personnel. All study procedures followed standard and validated protocols.
Results: There was a strong association between being a woman and having a religion (adjusted OR=2.12, 95%CI 1.95-2.31) when compared to men. Regarding age, those with 45-54 years were more likely to have a religion (adjusted OR=1.14, 95%CI 1.03-1.27). Blacks and Browns were more religious (adjusted OR=1.31, 95%CI 1.15-1.49, and OR=1.22, 95%CI 1.10-1.34, respectively) compared to Whites. Those with high income and education were less likely to state having a religion (adjusted OR=0.78, 95%CI 0.70-0.87, and adjusted OR=0.50, 95%CI 0.43-0.59, respectively). Those who did not have a stable conjugal union were found to be less religious (adjusted OR=0.82, 95%CI 0.75-0.89). Stratifying the analysis according to income showed that higher education was inversely associated with religion on both strata: lower and higher annual earnings.
Conclusion: This study suggests that education is one of the most important socioeconomic characteristics to consider when studying religion. Race, sex, income, and marital status are also important factors; however, there was not a clear association between religion and age.