(Photo: Eric Cotter/ Eastside Christian Church)

One of the first worship services held at Eastside Christian Church's new location at an old Boeing facility in Anaheim in November of 2012.

May 19, 2014|11:24 am

Americans exaggerate how often they go to Church in answers to surveys, a new study finds. Catholics and Mainline Protestants exaggerated more than Evangelical Protestants and black Protestants.

Since religious service attendance is considered positive behavior, Americans tend to overestimate how often they attend services when answering questions from a live interviewer. This is called a "social desirability bias."

When answering questions for an anonymous internet survey, the social desirability bias does not have the same effect. So, Public Religion Research Institute compared the results of phone surveys to those of internet surveys.

Among all Americans, the study found a five percentage point difference for frequent church attendance. Thirty-six percent of Americans answered that they attend religious services weekly or more when asked by a live interviewer, compared to 31 percent who answered the same for an online questionnaire.

Among infrequent church goers, the difference was even greater, 13 percentage points. Only 30 percent of phone survey respondents answered that seldom or never attend religious services, compared to 43 percent of internet survey respondents.

The study found some differences among denominations, age groups, and regions of the country. Catholics, Mainline Protestants, young people, Northeasterners and Westerners were more prone to exaggeration than Evangelicals, Black Protestants, old people, and Southerners. The differences were also greater among those who said they seldom or never attend religious services than among those who said they attend weekly or more. No differences were found based upon race, ethnicity or gender.

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Study: Americans Exaggerate How Often They Go to Church; Catholic, Mainline Exaggerate More Than Evangelical

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