Scripture-engaged adults have lower levels of loneliness than Bible disengaged: study

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Friday, November 15, 2024

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Americans with stronger spiritual lives and those who more commonly offer forgiveness experience less loneliness than those who are less engaged with the Bible or churches and those who don't commonly forgive others, a new survey suggests. 

The American Bible Society released the eighth chapter of its "State of the Bible USA 2024" report Thursday, focusing on "Loneliness."

The research, based on 2,506 responses collected from American adults from Jan. 4-23, 2024, examined the relationship between a respondent's levels of religiosity and how frequently they experience loneliness. The margin of error for the sample is ±2.73 percentage points. 

The data suggests that nearly three out of four Americans report moderate to high levels of loneliness, with over one-third of Generation Z women ages 18-27 experiencing high levels of loneliness. 

"In our surveys, we've seen many ways that Americans benefit from Bible engagement, and we suspect that it might also help them feel less lonely. So we're testing a hypothesis," the report reads. "If the nation is indeed experiencing an 'epidemic of loneliness,' what happens when people form a meaningful relationship with the God they meet in Scripture?"

Among the "Bible disengaged" — defined as those who score less than 70 on the Scripture Engagement Scale that measures the impact and centrality of the Bible on people's lives based on their responses to a series of questions — 22% reported high levels of loneliness while 52% experienced moderate loneliness.

Among the "movable middle" — those who score between 70 and 99 on the Scripture Engagement Scale — 59% reported high levels of loneliness and 17% experienced moderate loneliness. 

By contrast, a significantly smaller share of "scripture engaged" respondents with Scripture Engagement scores of 100 or higher reported high (11%) and moderate (50%) levels of loneliness. The percentage of "scripture engaged" respondents experiencing low loneliness (38%) was much higher than the 25% of both the "movable middle" and "Bible disengaged" who said the same. 

The study adopted five questions from the UCLA Loneliness Scale, which asked people how frequently they experienced certain emotions.

An answer of "1" was given if respondents "never" experienced an emotion and a "4" was given if they often experienced it. The maximum possible score on the UCLA Loneliness Scale is 20, while the minimum is 5. 

Across three of the four generations examined, the "scripture engaged" had lower average loneliness scores than their counterparts in the "movable middle" and "Bible disengaged" categories.

Among Generation Z, the youngest group of American adults born in 1997 or later, the "scripture engaged" had an average loneliness score of 11.3, lower than the average scores for the "movable middle" (12.4) and the "Bible disengaged" (13.4) in their age group. 

Among the Millennials born between 1981 and 1996, a similar pattern emerged. The "scripture engaged" had an average loneliness score of 10.1, while the "movable middle" recorded an average loneliness score of 12.3, and the "Bible disengaged" had an average loneliness score of 13.0. 

Among Generation X, born between 1965 and 1980, the average loneliness score was measured at 11.1 among the "scripture engaged" and 12.3 among both the "movable middle" and "Bible disengaged."

Only among the Baby Boomers and elder generations, encompassing those born in 1964 or earlier, did the "Bible disengaged" have a lower average loneliness score (10.5) than their "scripture engaged" counterparts (10.6). Among the oldest group of American adults, the "movable middle" had the highest average loneliness score (11.4). 

"This information sets an agenda for anyone connected to Christian ministry, indeed for any Christian who cares about young adults," the report stresses. "Well over a third of Gen Z women indicate that they are highly lonely. They say no one understands them, that people are 'around' them but not 'with' them. Our God frequently says, 'I am with you.' He knows us better than we know ourselves and still loves us. Psalm 68:6 has a wonderful phrase that applies here: 'You find families for those who are lonely' (CEV). Perhaps God can use us to do that, becoming 'families' for lonely people around us."

Looking at levels of loneliness based on church attendance, the data suggests those who "never" attend church had the highest incidence of high loneliness (25%), followed by those who had not been to church in at least a month but had gone within the past year (20%), those who last went to church over a year ago (16%), respondents who last went to church within the past month (15%) and those who attend weekly (12%). 

Conversely, those who go to church weekly scored the highest levels of low loneliness (33%), followed by respondents who last went to church within the past month (32%), those who last went to church more than a month ago but had gone in the past year (27%), respondents who had not attended church in at least a year (26%) and those who never go to church (24%). 

The research also found a relationship between an individual's ability to forgive and their levels of loneliness.

Thirty-six percent of those who identify as "strongly unable to forgive" experienced high loneliness, followed by 43% who reported moderate loneliness and 21% who reported low loneliness. Among those who consider themselves "somewhat unable to forgive," 22% reported high loneliness, 57% experienced moderate loneliness and 21% reported low loneliness.

Sixteen percent of those who characterize themselves as "somewhat able to forgive" reported high loneliness, along with 56% who experienced moderate loneliness and 28% who felt low loneliness. Those who consider themselves "strongly able to forgive" had the lowest share reporting high loneliness (16%) and the highest percentage experiencing low loneliness (35%) with the rest experiencing moderate loneliness.

"Some experts blame social media for fostering shallow connections that replace deep friendships. Our own research indicates that an inability to forgive could greatly increase levels of loneliness," American Bible Society's Chief Innovation Officer John Farquhar Plake said in a statement. "Regardless of the cause, the need is urgent. Churches should respond with care and creativity, offering a safe space to develop meaningful Christian relationships."

The chapter examined loneliness levels by respondents' "commitment to Christ."

Among those who are non-Christians and are "currently not interested in exploring what it means to be a Christian," 26% reported low levels of loneliness, while 22% experienced high levels. The high loneliness share was measured at 42% among non-Christians who are "starting to explore what it means to be a Christian" while the low loneliness percentage was pegged at 10%. 

Twenty-five percent of Christians who do not consider their faith "significant" in their life had low loneliness while 17% experienced high loneliness. Among those who believe in God but have not yet committed to a relationship with Jesus Christ, 20% experienced low loneliness while 26% reported high loneliness. 

Higher levels of low loneliness were measured among those who have committed to a relationship with Christ (27%), those who have a "solid relationship with Christ that makes a difference" in their lives (30%), respondents who have an intimate relationship with Christ that influences their daily lives (42%) and those who identify their relationship with Christ as the most important one in their lives (32%). 

The study comes after U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy issued an 81-page advisory report last year titled "Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation." The report warned that the "[t]he lack of social connection poses a significant risk for individual health and longevity."

The document warns that loneliness "can increase the risk for premature death as much as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day." Loneliness and lack of social connection are associated with higher risks of heart disease, stroke, anxiety, depression and dementia.