This paper investigates the effect of religious affiliation on individual well-being. Using Gallup’s U.S. Daily Poll between 2008 and 2017, we find that those who are engaged in their local church and view their faith as important to their lives have not only higher levels of subjective well-being (SWB), but also acyclical levels. We show that the acyclicality of SWB among Christians is not driven by selection effects or the presence of greater social capital, but rather a sense of purpose over the business cycle independent of financial circumstances.

中文翻译：

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宗教信仰能保护人们的福祉吗？校正选择效应后大衰退的证据

本文研究了宗教信仰对个人幸福感的影响。使用盖洛普 2008 年至 2017 年的美国每日民意调查，我们发现那些参与当地教会并认为信仰对他们的生活很重要的人不仅主观幸福感 (SWB) 水平更高，而且具有非周期性水平。我们表明，基督徒中主观幸福感的非周期性不是由选择效应或更大社会资本的存在驱动的，而是由独立于财务状况的商业周期的目的感驱动的。