By the Numbers: 15 October 2018
9%
The percentage by which soldiers deployed to combat zones are more likely to attend religious services weekly when compared to "their counterparts assigned to non-combat overseas deployments," according to a recent working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research -- Death, Trauma and God: The Effect of Military Deployments on Religiosity. Soldiers deployed to combat zones are also 9% more likely to engage in private prayer, according to the researchers.
Combat-induced increases in religiosity are largest for enlisted servicemen, those under age 25, and servicemen wounded in combat. The physical and psychological burdens of war, as well as the presence of military chaplains in combat zones, emerge as possible mechanisms.
9%
The percentage by which soldiers deployed to combat zones are more likely to attend religious services weekly when compared to "their counterparts assigned to non-combat overseas deployments," according to a recent working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research -- Death, Trauma and God: The Effect of Military Deployments on Religiosity. Soldiers deployed to combat zones are also 9% more likely to engage in private prayer, according to the researchers.
Combat-induced increases in religiosity are largest for enlisted servicemen, those under age 25, and servicemen wounded in combat. The physical and psychological burdens of war, as well as the presence of military chaplains in combat zones, emerge as possible mechanisms.