Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP14824
Authors: Jeanet Bentzen
Abstract: In times of crisis, humans have a tendency to turn to religion for comfort and explanation. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic is no exception. Using daily data on Google searches for 95 countries, this research demonstrates that the COVID-19 crisis has increased Google searches for prayer (relative to all Google searches) to the highest level ever recorded. More than half of the world population had prayed to end the coronavirus. The rise amounts to 50% of the previous level of prayer searches or a quarter of the fall in Google searches for flights, which dropped dramatically due to the closure of most international air transport. Prayer searches rose at all levels of income, inequality, and insecurity, but not for the 10% least religious countries. The increase is not merely a substitute for services in the physical churches that closed down to limit the spread of the virus. Instead, the rise is due to an intensified demand for religion: We pray to cope with adversity.
Keywords: Religion; COVID-19; Emotional Distress; Coping; Religiosity
JEL Codes: Z12; D91; I15; O57; Q54
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| COVID-19 pandemic (H12) | increase in Google searches for prayer (Z12) |
| COVID-19 exposure (I14) | increase in Google searches for prayer (Z12) |
| higher prior religiosity levels (Z12) | increase in Google searches for prayer (Z12) |
| COVID-19 pandemic (H12) | increase in intrinsic religiosity (Z12) |