Based on the well-established link between religiosity and positive mental health outcomes, it has been argued that nonreligiosity is a health liability. However, most of this research suffers from methodological problems that limit their generalizability to nonreligious populations, such as atheists and agnostics. In the current chapter, we draw attention to these methodological issues, and argue in favor of a richer conceptualization of nonreligion than has been theorized in previous literature. We further review recent work from various countries around the world, which challenges the notion that nonreligiosity presents a health risk, finding instead that the nonreligious experience similar levels of health and wellbeing benefits as the religious. We end by briefly discussing the limitations and recent backlash at this literature, while suggesting that the study of the nonreligious may transform how we understand the interaction between beliefs, rituals, and health.
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