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Frequency of prayer - Belief Statistics Topic

About how often do you pray? (USE CATEGORIES AS PROBES.) (PRAY)
(General Social Survey, 2021)


Frequency of prayer by Age

 18-2930-4445-5960-7475 or olderMissingTotal
Several times a day16.5%
67
23.9%
233
31.5%
284
31.9%
323
37.7%
144
8828.6%
1051
Once a day9.9%
40
14.2%
138
15.2%
137
19.8%
201
21.2%
81
5916.2%
597
Several times a week14.8%
60
12.6%
123
15.5%
140
14.1%
143
11.5%
44
3213.9%
510
Once a week5.4%
22
4.7%
46
5.0%
45
3.8%
39
2.9%
11
124.4%
163
Less than once a week16.0%
65
15.2%
148
13.7%
123
14.4%
146
12.0%
46
3214.4%
528
Never37.3%
151
29.4%
287
19.1%
172
16.0%
162
14.7%
56
5522.5%
828
Missing1569135555
Total 100%
405
100%
975
100%
901
100%
1014
100%
382
   
3677

Frequency of prayer by Worship attendance

 NeverAbout once a year or lessSeveral times a yearOne to three times a monthNearly every weekEvery week or several times a weekMissingTotal
Several times a day10.5%
122
16.2%
164
27.6%
110
37.4%
120
47.3%
156
65.3%
463
428.8%
1135
Once a day8.2%
96
17.0%
172
20.6%
82
23.4%
75
23.6%
78
20.6%
146
716.5%
649
Several times a week8.7%
102
17.2%
174
22.1%
88
18.7%
60
17.9%
59
8.3%
59
013.8%
542
Once a week4.0%
47
5.7%
58
5.5%
22
7.5%
24
2.1%
7
2.1%
15
24.4%
173
Less than once a week13.6%
159
26.0%
264
20.1%
80
7.5%
24
4.8%
16
2.1%
15
214.2%
558
Never54.9%
641
17.9%
182
4.0%
16
5.6%
18
4.2%
14
1.6%
11
122.4%
882
Missing11451119354
Total 100%
1167
100%
1014
100%
398
100%
321
100%
330
100%
709
   
3939

Frequency of prayer by Household income

 Under $5,000$5,000 to $9,999$10,000 to $14,999$15,000 to $19,999$20,000 to $24,999$25,000 or moreMissingTotal
Several times a day40.6%
58
38.0%
38
40.9%
67
32.1%
45
34.5%
51
26.5%
742
13828.6%
1001
Once a day14.7%
21
17.0%
17
14.0%
23
16.4%
23
16.9%
25
16.5%
461
8616.3%
570
Several times a week10.5%
15
18.0%
18
15.2%
25
16.4%
23
12.8%
19
13.3%
371
7113.5%
471
Once a week7.7%
11
3.0%
3
3.0%
5
1.4%
2
1.4%
2
4.5%
125
274.2%
148
Less than once a week10.5%
15
11.0%
11
12.8%
21
15.0%
21
10.8%
16
15.3%
427
4914.6%
511
Never16.1%
23
13.0%
13
14.0%
23
18.6%
26
23.6%
35
24.0%
673
9022.7%
793
Missing11301953862
Total 100%
143
100%
100
100%
164
100%
140
100%
148
100%
2799
   
3494

Frequency of prayer by Political ideology

 Extremely liberal or liberalSlightly liberalModerate, middle of the roadSlightly conservativeExtremely conservative or conservativeMissingTotal
Several times a day15.3%
125
18.1%
88
29.9%
407
31.0%
145
45.7%
356
1828.7%
1121
Once a day11.8%
96
15.6%
76
17.7%
241
19.9%
93
18.1%
141
916.5%
647
Several times a week11.2%
91
12.9%
63
14.2%
194
16.2%
76
14.5%
113
513.7%
537
Once a week4.0%
33
4.5%
22
5.5%
75
4.9%
23
2.7%
21
14.4%
174
Less than once a week16.1%
131
19.5%
95
14.8%
202
12.8%
60
8.9%
69
314.2%
557
Never41.7%
340
29.4%
143
17.8%
243
15.2%
71
10.1%
79
722.4%
876
Missing1431581212025
Total 100%
816
100%
487
100%
1362
100%
468
100%
779
   
3912

Frequency of prayer by Religion

 ProtestantCatholicJewish/OtherNoneMissingTotal
Several times a day44.2%
754
28.8%
236
23.4%
67
6.4%
71
1128.7%
1128
Once a day19.8%
337
23.8%
195
15.7%
45
6.5%
72
716.5%
649
Several times a week16.2%
276
16.6%
136
11.5%
33
8.3%
93
413.7%
538
Once a week4.5%
76
5.6%
46
5.9%
17
3.0%
33
34.4%
172
Less than once a week11.5%
197
16.2%
133
18.2%
52
15.9%
177
114.2%
559
Never3.9%
66
9.0%
74
25.2%
72
60.0%
668
322.4%
880
Missing846710652
Total 100%
1706
100%
820
100%
286
100%
1114
   
3926

Frequency of prayer by Sex

 MaleFemaleMissingTotal
Several times a day22.5%
387
33.8%
738
1428.8%
1125
Once a day13.7%
235
18.4%
403
1816.3%
638
Several times a week11.4%
197
15.6%
342
313.8%
539
Once a week4.6%
80
4.2%
92
34.4%
172
Less than once a week16.9%
291
12.2%
267
214.3%
558
Never30.9%
531
15.7%
344
822.4%
875
Missing151812544
Total 100%
1721
100%
2186
   
3907

Related variables

A similar question appeared on Baylor Religion Survey, Wave II (2007) - Instructional Dataset
Q17. About how often do you pray or meditate outside of religious services? (PRAY)


A similar question appeared on American National Election Studies, 2004
People practice their religion in different ways. Outside of attending religious services, do you pray SEVERAL TIMES A DAY, ONCE A DAY, A FEW TIMES A WEEK, ONCE A WEEK OR LESS, or NEVER? (PRAYFREQ)


A similar question appeared on General Social Survey 2014 Cross-Section and Panel Combined, (Inapplicable Responses Coded as Missing)
About how often do you pray? (PRAY)


Notes

The General Social Surveys (GSS) have been conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) annually since 1972, except for the years 1979, 1981, and 1992 (a supplement was added in 1992), and biennially beginning in 1994. The GSS are designed to be part of a program of social indicator research, replicating questionnaire items and wording in order to facilitate time-trend studies. This data file has all cases and variables asked on the 2021 GSS.

The 2021 cross-sectional General Social Survey has been updated to Release Version 3 as of July 2023. This Release includes the addition of respondent spouse/partner religious identities, socioeconomic statuses, and work information (including Occupation and Industry coding), and additional information about respondents' religious background.

To download syntax files for the GSS that reproduce well-known religious group recodes, including RELTRAD, please visit the ARDA's Syntax Repository.

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