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Religion Monitor 2008

Selection of the Swiss results

The Bertelsmann Stiftung's Religion Monitor is an interdisciplinary measuring

instrument that takes into account sociological, psychological, theological and
religious studies aspects. It is an inventory of inner religiosity. A trend towards
more religiosity or less religiosity can only be revealed by repeating the study.

A representative survey by Iso Public on behalf of the Bertelsmann Foundation on

religiosity in Switzerland enables a closer look at religious attitudes and religious
practice. This study was embedded in an international survey in a total of 21
countries. All continents and all world religions were taken into account.

In July and August of this year, the Bertelsmann Foundation's Religion Monitor
conducted a representative survey of 1,000 Swiss people over the age of 18 in
Switzerland.

Result overview:

The scientific study found that 80% of Swiss people are religious. Of these, even
22% are highly religious, which means that religion is of central importance for a
large part of life.

56% of Swiss say that religious commandments are moderately, fairly or very
important in their everyday life.

11% attend church services once a week or more. Another 37% do this several
times a year.
A quarter never does.

14% of the Swiss are quite or very concerned about their religiosity, but 69% little
or not at all.
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Asked about the frequency and importance of personal prayer, it

shows that this is moderately or even very important for 60% of the
Swiss.

What does classification as religious mean?

The study allows a depth view. Five core dimensions of religiosity

were further defined and examined: the intellectual dimension
(interest in religious topics), the belief dimension (in God or
something divine), public practice (attending church services),
private practice (prayer and meditation) and the experiential level
(e.g
feelings towards God, such as security or fear).
Finally, questions were asked about the everyday consequences.

The intellectual dimension of religiosity was assessed by the

following questions: "How often do you think about religious topics?"
and "How interested are you in learning more about religious
topics?". 68% have a medium or high level of this religious dimension.

Also noteworthy is the high intensity of religious reflexivity ("How

often do you think about individual points of your religious attitudes?";
"How often do you deal critically with religious teachings that you
fundamentally agree with?"; "How important is it for you to look at
religious issues from different angles?”). This is moderately or even
very important for 70% of the religious Swiss.

The statement that every religion has a core of truth and that one
should be open to all religions (religious pluralism) was affirmed by
92% of the religious Swiss with a high or medium level. Compared
to the other European countries surveyed, Germany, Austria,
France, the UK, Poland and Russia, Switzerland is at the top.

How relevant is religion for Swiss believers in everyday life and for
which areas of life? For 27% of Swiss people who describe
themselves as religious or spiritual, religiosity has a moderate impact
on raising children
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off, for 17% quite a bit and for a further 14% even very much. 22%
of the same group say that religiosity is of medium importance for
the partnership. For 26%, this aspect is of fairly or very great
importance.

How are personal religiosity and political attitude related? The

religious Swiss say that their religiosity has little impact on political
attitudes. (43% not at all, 22% little, 18% medium, 9% quite a bit, 5%
very much).

Religiousness has a relatively strong influence on dealing with

nature. At least 19% of the religious Swiss consider their own
religiosity quite important and 25% even very important.

Personal religiosity has a fairly strong or very strong influence on

how they deal with sexuality for 17%. 20% answered this question
with "medium", 16% with "little" and 41% with "not at all".

How do religious people feel about God or something divine? It is

striking that God or something divine is primarily associated with the
concepts of gratitude, hope, love and joy.

At the bottom end is anger or despair.

For 74% of the religious Swiss, religiosity affects important life events
such as birth, marriage or death. One's own religiosity also has an
important influence on life crises and illness or on the question of the
meaning of life.

The publication "Religions Monitor 2008" is available from 17 April 2008.

Available in bookstores December 2007 (288 pages/cardboard. SFr
27.50; ISBN 978-3-579-06465-9).
It takes into account the results of 19 countries worldwide: Brazil,
Germany, France, Great Britain, Guatemala,
Italy, Morocco,
India,
Nigeria,
Poland,
Indonesia,
Austria,
Russia,
Israel,
Switzerland, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey and the USA. The focus
of the publication is on Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
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In the first half of 2008, a specialist publication on the Religion Monitor

will be published by the Bertelsmann Foundation.

The Religion Monitor will be available as an online tool from the

afternoon of December 18. At www.religionsmonitor.com you can
personally answer most of the Religion Monitor's questions, completely
anonymously of course. The result is a "religiousness profile". This
can be understood as a reflection of some core dimensions of one's
own religiosity. For comparison, you get the values of your own
country, insofar as this has already been representatively surveyed
by the Religion Monitor of the Bertelsmann Foundation.

If you have any questions, the project manager Dr. Martin Rieger on
+49 5241 81 81 599.
The email address is:
martin.rieger@bertelsmann.de