Faith after an Earthquake: A Longitudinal Study of Religion and Perceived Health before and after the 2011 Christchurch New Zealand Earthquake

Abstract

On 22 February 2011, Christchurch New Zealand (population 367,700) experienced a devastating earthquake, causing extensive damage and killing one hundred and eighty-five people. The earthquake and aftershocks occurred between the 2009 and 2011 waves of a longitudinal probability sample conducted in New Zealand, enabling us to examine how a natural disaster of this magnitude affected deeply held commitments and global ratings of personal health, depending on earthquake exposure. We first investigated whether the earthquake-affected were more likely to believe in God. Consistent with the Religious Comfort Hypothesis, religious faith increased among the earthquake-affected, despite an overall decline in religious faith elsewhere. This result offers the first population-level demonstration that secular people turn to religion at times of natural crisis. We then examined whether religious affiliation was associated with differences in subjective ratings of personal health. We found no evidence for superior buffering from having religious faith. Among those affected by the earthquake, however, a loss of faith was associated with significant subjective health declines. Those who lost faith elsewhere in the country did not experience similar health declines. Our findings suggest that religious conversion after a natural disaster is unlikely to improve subjective well-being, yet upholding faith might be an important step on the road to recovery.

The ecology of religious beliefs

“…Thus, overall, our findings indicate that the global prevalence of societies that believe in moralizing high gods is associated with higher prospects of ecological duress (i.e., conditions that are more likely to vary in reasonably productive environments or more likely to stay the same in environments that are already quite poor). In addition, the findings suggest that isolated reports of a soothing effect of ritualistic behavior in the face of randomness (48), or of the intensification of religious beliefs (22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27) and the propensity to cooperate (28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33) in riskier environments, are likely to be reflections of a general human response to threat. Other potentially important mechanisms that could help explain the global distribution of beliefs in moralizing high gods are cultural diffusion and shared ancestry.…”

“…Recent empirical findings indicate that beliefs in moralizing high gods not only intensify (22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27), but also promote cooperation (28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33) in situations of increased environmental risk. In addition, these findings indicate that ecological threats can strengthen mechanisms of norm enforcement in human groups (34).…”

After the disaster

“…In addition to claiming the lives of 185 people, the magnitude of the tremor left much of Christchurch's infrastructure in shambles (Kaiser et al, 2012). The extent of the devastation also crippled the economy of the Canterbury region (Parker and Steenkamp, 2012) and led many within the community to seek comfort in religion (Sibley and Bulbulia, 2012). Indeed, the destruction caused by the earthquake exacted a tremendous toll on the Christchurch community -the effects of which will likely be felt for years to come.…”

Experienced Adversity in Life Is Associated With Polarized and Affirmed Political Attitudes

“…McIntosh, Silver, & Wortman, 1993;Sibley & Bulbulia, 2003;Uecker, 2008). In line Adversity in life and compensatory affirmation 5 with this last concern, Americans responded to the events of 9/11 with a number of behaviors that could be seen as attempts to directly respond to the event at hand, including greater willingness to trade civil liberties for security, support for increasing surveillance of Muslim Americans, and patriotic gestures such as displaying the American flag (c.f.…”