Former President Donald Trump spoke via video to attendees of the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition Spring Kick-Off on April 22. Data suggests Trump is weaker among college-educated white evangelical voters than he was in his 2016 campaign. SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES
Commentary

Some Evangelical Voters Aren’t Sold On Trump. Will That Help DeSantis?

Daniel A. Cox, Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux May 18, 2023

White Evangelical Protestants comprise Trump’s base, but cracks are forming along educational and generational lines. What does this mean for 2024? Continue Reading →

Cover of Bob Smietana's book Reorganized Religion
Event

Reorganized Religion with Bob Smietana

Kyle Gray January 30, 2023

America’s rapidly changing religious landscape has spurred many questions about the cause of its decline and predictions about what the future holds. In his new book, Reorganized Religion: The Reshaping of the American Church and Why It Matters (Worthy Publishing, 2022), Religion News Service’s Bob Smietana follows the decline of mainstream Christian denominations, the rise of “disorganized disbelievers,” and how politics shapes religious communities and what this means for the the future of our civil society. Continue Reading →

Red leather-bound Qur'an on a wooden table with prayer beads and a light blue surgical mask draped over top.
Survey report

Faith After the Pandemic: How COVID-19 Changed American Religion

Lindsey Witt-Swanson, Jennifer Benz, Daniel A. Cox January 5, 2023

The Survey Center on American Life at AEI teamed up with researchers at NORC at the University of Chicago to measure religious affiliation and attendance both before the pandemic (2018 to March 2020) and again in spring 2022, revealing who remained at the pews, who returned to the pews, and who left. Continue Reading →

An image of a broken wedding ring. There is a significant crack in the ring which is showed in the image foreground.
Blog

 A Moral Double Standard on Marital Infidelity 

Daniel A. Cox October 12, 2022

Men and women hold different views of the morality of marital infidelity depending on who commits it. Continue Reading →

cross
Blog

Why a Modest Decline in Religious Belief is Important

Daniel A. Cox July 8, 2022

Another poll, another record broken in the country’s continuing religious descent. A new Gallup poll finds that 81 percent of Americans say that they believe in God, representing a six point drop over the last five years. Continue Reading →

A children's coloring book of the Jewish Haggdah,
Blog

Jews and the Faith of Their Children

Samuel J. Abrams May 23, 2022

Just half of Jews in America today believe it is important for children to be brought up in a religion so they can learn good values, making the Jewish community an outlier compared to other religious traditions. Continue Reading →

An illustration of the side profiles of four people. From left to right: a young white man with blond hair, an older Black woman with short, curly Black hair, a young woman with tan skin and black hair with a blue streak, an older man with darker tan skin with curly grey hair and a mustache.
Survey report

Politics, Sex, and Sexuality: The Growing Gender Divide in American Life

Daniel A. Cox, Beatrice Lee, Dana Popky April 27, 2022

The nature of gender differences is a source of enduring debate in American society. The divide between young men and women is growing larger over sex, sexuality, and politics. Men spend more time playing video games, watching pornography, and report a greater interest in politics, while women are more likely to pick up a book or meditate. Continue Reading →

Blessing and preparing matzah in preparation for the Jewish holiday of Passover.
Blog

Jewish Religious Exceptionalism

Samuel J. Abrams April 14, 2022

Data from the Survey Center on American Life’s new American National Family Life Survey reveals that while Jews heavily embrace cultural traditions such as foodways and festivals, their levels of engagement with conventional forms of religious practice, such as regular worship and religious marriage ceremonies, are much lower than national norms. Continue Reading →

An African American teenager male attending church.
Commentary

Stop Blaming Young People for Leaving Religion

Daniel A. Cox April 10, 2022

Much of the decline in current religious commitments can be traced back to the way young adults have been raised. Continue Reading →

A cartoon drawing of a church. Inside of the church is a pastor looking at empty pews.
Survey report

Generation Z and the Future of Faith in America

Daniel A. Cox March 24, 2022

The religious and social experiences of young adults today are entirely different than previous generations. New family dynamics and parenting choices are reshaping the religious experiences of young people, setting them on a very different trajectory than past generations and making Generation Z the least religious generation. Continue Reading →

Survey Reports

Cartoon rendering of a series of different online dating app prospects, on phone screens

Daniel A. Cox
February 9, 2023

From Swiping to Sexting: The Enduring Gender Divide in American Dating and Relationships

The January 2023 American Perspectives Survey sheds some light on dating preferences, experiences, and perspectives. The national survey of more than 5,000 adults age 18 and older, including nearly 800 single adults, finds that Americans have strong dating preferences when it comes to living at home, being unemployed, and smoking. Continue Reading →

Red leather-bound Qur'an on a wooden table with prayer beads and a light blue surgical mask draped over top.

Lindsey Witt-Swanson, Jennifer Benz, Daniel A. Cox
January 5, 2023

Faith After the Pandemic: How COVID-19 Changed American Religion

The Survey Center on American Life at AEI teamed up with researchers at NORC at the University of Chicago to measure religious affiliation and attendance both before the pandemic (2018 to March 2020) and again in spring 2022, revealing who remained at the pews, who returned to the pews, and who left. Continue Reading →

A cartoon showing a vibrant office from the ceiling view.

Brent Orrell, Daniel A. Cox, Jessie Wall
October 25, 2022

The Social Workplace: Social Capital, Human Dignity, and Work in America

Over the past two decades, American social and civic life has been on an undeniable downward trajectory. New research finds that the workplace remains an increasingly important generator of social capital in the wake of this civic contraction. Continue Reading →

Photograph of pro-choice protestors holding signs

Karlyn Bowman, Daniel A. Cox
October 4, 2022

Gender, Generation and Abortion: Shifting Politics and Perspectives After Roe

In the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, the issue of abortion continues to garner widespread public attention. Young women are following the debate over abortion rights closely and more intensely than other Americans. How will it affect their vote in the upcoming election and their approach to politics? Continue Reading →