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6 facts about U.S. Mormons

BY ALEKSANDRA SANDSTROM AND

Twice each year, in April and October, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints holds its General Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. These conferences –
which are open to all members of the LDS church and are broadcast around the
world – offer Mormons an opportunity to hear their leaders speak on a host of
topics.

As the next conference gets underway this weekend, here are six facts about U.S.
Mormons from Pew Research Center surveys:

1 The LDS church typically places very high importance on families and
traditional gender roles. Indeed, 81% of Mormons say being a good parent is
one of the most important things in life. And 73% say the same about having a
successful marriage. By comparison, half of all U.S. adults say being a good parent is
one of the most important things in life, and only one-third say having a successful
marriage is of utmost importance. Additionally, 58% of Mormons say a marriage
where the husband provides and the wife stays at home is preferable to one in
which both spouses have jobs. Among the general public, most people (62%)
express the opposite view, saying a marriage in which both spouses have jobs and
take responsibility for housework and child rearing is more satisfying. At this fall’s
pre-conference session specifically for Mormon women, participants were urged to
defend the church’s teachings on marriage, family and sexuality.

2 While nearly all Mormons consider themselves Christian (97%), only about
half (51%) of U.S. adults say Mormonism is a Christian religion, according
to a 2012 Pew Research Center report. When asked to volunteer the one word that
best describes Mormons, the most common response from Mormons surveyed was
“Christian” or “Christ-centered” (17%), and an additional 5% volunteered “Jesus.”
The most commonly offered response by non-Mormons was “cult.”
3 Among all Christian religious traditions in the U.S., Mormons are among the
most highly involved in their congregations (67%), according to an analysis
based on three measures of congregational involvement: membership in a
congregation, frequency of attendance at worship services and frequency of
attendance at small group religious activities. Jehovah’s Witnesses have comparable
levels of highly involved members (64%), while evangelical Protestants (43%),
members of historically black Protestant denominations (41%) and those in other
Christian groups have lower average levels of congregational involvement. In
addition, our Religious Landscape Study found that Mormons are among the groups
most likely to believe the Bible is the word of God (91%), pray daily (85%), say
religion is very important in their lives (84%) and read scripture regularly (77%).

4 A number of tenets central to the teachings of the LDS church and widely
held by Mormons are not shared by other Christian traditions, our 2011
survey found. Nine-in-ten Mormons believe that the president of the LDS church is
a prophet of God (94%) and that the Book of Mormon was written by ancient
prophets (91%). Large majorities of Mormons believe that families can be bound
together eternally in temple ceremonies (95%) and that God the Father and Jesus
Christ are separate, physical beings (94%).

5 Mormons are among the most politically and socially conservative

religious groups in the U.S. For example, two-thirds of Mormons say they
oppose allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry legally, and seven-in-ten say they
think abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, according to the 2014 U.S.
Religious Landscape Study. And most Mormons (69% in 2016) identify with or lean
 toward the Republican Party, though the share who do so has edged downward in
recent years.

6 Mormons are relatively young and less diverse when compared with other
Christian groups, and they are younger than the U.S. population as a whole.
The median age of U.S. Mormons is 43, while the median age of the general
population is 46. As a religious group, they also are much less racially and
ethnically diverse than the U.S. population as a whole, with fully 85% of U.S.
Mormons identifying as non-Hispanic white.

Topics
Beliefs & Practices, Religion & Politics, Mormonism, Gender Roles, Household Structure & Family Roles,
U.S. Religious Demographics

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Aleksandra Sandstrom  is a former senior copy editor focusing on religion at Pew

Research Center.
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