Most Americans believe in sin, but differ widely on just what it is

(Original release date:  March 11, 2008)  Study results released today from Ellison Research (Phoenix, Arizona) show the vast majority of Americans (87%) believe in the concept of sin.  “Sin” was defined in the research as “something that is almost always considered wrong, particularly from a religious or moral perspective.”

The findings are from a study independently designed, funded, and conducted by Ellison Research among a representative sample of over 1,000 American adults.  Ellison Research is a full-service marketing research firm.

People who believe there is such a thing as “sin” were asked whether they would personally define each of thirty different behaviors as sinful.  

The behaviors a majority of all Americans describe as sinful are:

A number of other behaviors are considered sinful by a significant portion of all Americans, although not a majority.  These are:

Then there are behaviors that fewer than one-third of all Americans see as sinful:

A clear majority of just about every type of American believes in the concept of sin, although there are a few differences.  For example, 97% of Black Americans believe in the concept of sin, compared to 86% of Whites and 80% of Hispanics. 

Not surprisingly, religious people are much more likely to believe in sin, but the concept is commonly accepted even among those who are not religiously involved.  Among Americans who regularly attend religious worship services, 94% believe in the concept of sin, although this only drops to 80% among those who do not attend services.  Among those who attend services, the concept of sin is fairly universal among Protestants (96%), Roman Catholics (91%), and those who attend other types of religious services (94%).

One of the biggest differences in whether people believe in the concept of sin is actually not even religious, but political.  Among political conservatives, 94% believe there is such a thing as sin.  This is also true among 89% of moderates.  But only 77% of political liberals believe in the concept of sin.

These kinds of differences can also be seen in whether people define various behaviors as sinful.  Overall, people who attend religious worship services not only are more likely to believe in the concept of sin, but they are more likely to include numerous behaviors under that heading than are those who are not religiously involved.  However, there are also differences within the religious world.  

Protestants are more likely than Roman Catholics to include most of the thirty different behaviors as sin – sometimes dramatically so.  The biggest differences include gambling (50% of Protestant churchgoers define this as sinful, compared to just 15% of Catholics), failing to tithe 10% or more of one’s income (32% to 9%), getting drunk (63% to 28%), gossip (70% to 45%), and homosexual activity or sex (72% to 49%).  Catholics and Protestants are equally likely (or unlikely) to list as sin having an abortion, spanking, and making a lot of money, while Catholics are more likely than Protestants to believe that failing to attend church is a sin (39% to 23%).

Evangelical Christians are far more likely than almost any other group to include numerous behaviors under the definition of sin, and the difference between evangelicals and other Americans is often quite large.  For instance, 90% of evangelicals believe getting drunk is sinful behavior, compared to 35% of all other Americans, and 92% believe sex before marriage is sinful, versus 39% of all other Americans.  Still, evangelicals do not consider all types of behavior sinful – only a minority believe it is a sin to work on the Sabbath, not attend church, drink alcohol, dance, play the lottery, watch an R-rated movie, or not tithe 10% of their income to church or charity. 

The findings also show that Americans tend to define sinful behavior partially by degree.  For instance, 81% feel adultery is sinful, but only 43% say the same thing about having sexual thoughts about someone to whom they are not married.  Forty-one percent believe getting drunk is sinful, while only 14% believe drinking even a little alcohol is a sin.  Thirty percent say gambling is sinful, but only 18% feel this way about playing the lottery.  And while 65% feel drugs such as meth or cocaine are a sin, just 41% say this about marijuana.

There are also numerous demographic differences in what people define as sin.  Women tend to have a longer list of what is sin than do men – women are more likely than men to include racism, gossip, use of hard drugs, marijuana, adultery, pornography, not reporting income on taxes, abortion, failing to say anything if given too much change, and swearing as sinful behavior.

African-Americans are also significantly more likely to list many of the different behaviors as sinful than are people of other racial or ethnic backgrounds. 

There are also differences by age.  People under age 35 are less likely than Americans in other age groups to believe adultery, getting drunk, not reporting income on taxes, homosexual activity, pornography, and gossip are sin.  At the same time, younger people are more likely than others to say using tobacco and working on the Sabbath are sinful.

There are also strong differences of opinion according to political perspective.  Conservatives are almost always the most likely to name each of the 30 behaviors as sinful, while liberals are almost always the least likely to do so, with moderates somewhere in the middle.  The only activities liberals were about as likely as conservatives to categorize as sin are harming the environment, dancing, making a lot of money, and spanking a child.

Ron Sellers, president of Ellison Research, noted how many inconsistencies Americans show in their answers.  “We can see numerous inconsistent patterns of thought and belief throughout the responses,” Sellers stated.  “For instance, over a third of all Americans believe failing to take proper care of their bodies is sinful.  Yet far fewer believe tobacco or obesity are sins – even though medical science consistently shows using tobacco and being overweight are two of the most harmful things they can do to their bodies.” 

Other inconsistencies Sellers pointed out:

“But then inconsistency of thought is fairly common in this country, when studies consistently show a majority of Americans simultaneously want increased government services, decreased government debt, and lower taxes,” Sellers observed.

Sellers cautioned that the study only measured what people define as sin, not necessarily what they believe to be positive behavior, or what they feel is okay to practice in their own lives.  “Because only 23% believe tobacco use qualifies as sinful behavior doesn’t mean the vast majority feel it’s perfectly okay to smoke – it just means they do not believe smoking is actually sinful.”

He also suggested that religious leaders take a hard look at how the findings of this study compare to their own teachings.  “If your church is teaching that working on the Sabbath is sinful, or that drinking or abortion or gossip are sinful, it’s likely that many of your own people don’t agree with you.  Leaders need to understand why this is, so they can figure out how to respond.  Rather than just teaching, they need to discuss these issues with people – getting feedback on why so many of their own people differ with them may help them understand how to reach those people more effectively with their teaching.”

STUDY DETAILS:
The study was conducted by Ellison Research, a marketing research company located in Phoenix, Arizona.  The sample of 1,007 adults is accurate to within ±3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level with a 50 percent response distribution. 

The study was conducted in all 50 states.  Respondents’ age, household income, geography, racial or ethnic background, and gender were carefully tracked to ensure appropriate representation and accuracy.

Belief in the concept of “sin” (defined as something that is almost always considered wrong, particularly from a religious or moral perspective)…

Population Groups
Believe in the Concept of Sin
All American adults
 87%
Men
 85
Women
 90
Age <35
 83
Age 35 – 54
 89
Age 55+
 88
White
 86
Black
 97
Hispanic
 80
Born again Christian
 99
Not a born again Christian
 81
Evangelical Christian
 100
Not an evangelical Christian
 86
Attend religious worship services regularly
 94
Do not attend religious worship services regularly
 80
Attend Protestant worship services
 96
Attend Catholic worship services
 91
Attend any other type of worship services
 94
Politically conservative
 94
Politically moderate
 89
Politically liberal
 77
Republican
 93
Democrat
 85
Independent
 86

What people personally define as sin or sinful behavior……

Types of Behavior
 Define as Sin or Sinful Behavior
Believe in Sin, but Don’t Define This as Sin
 Don’t Believe in the Concept of Sin
Adultery
 81% 6% 13%
Racism
 74 13 13
Using “hard” drugs such as cocaine, heroine, meth, LSD, etc.
 65 22 13
Not saying anything if a cashier gives you too much change back
 63 24 13
Having an abortion
 56 31 13
Homosexual activity or sex
 52 35 13
Not reporting some income on your tax returns
 52 35 13
Reading or watching pornography
 50 37 13
Gossip
 47 40 13
Swearing
 46 43 13
Sex before marriage
 45 42 13
Homosexual thoughts
 44 43 13
Sexual thoughts about someone you are not married to
 43 44 13
Smoking marijuana
 41 46 13
Doing things as a consumer that harm the environment
 41 46 13
Getting drunk
 41 46 13
Not taking proper care of your body
 35 52 13
Gambling
 30 57 13
Telling a “little white lie” to avoid hurting someone’s feelings
 29 58 13
Using tobacco
 23 64 13
Not attending church or religious worship services on a regular basis
 18 69 13
Watching an R-rated movie
 18 69 13
Playing the lottery
 18 69 13
Being significantly overweight
 17 70 13
Not giving 10% of your income to a church or charity
 16 71 13
Drinking any alcohol
 14 73 13
Working on Sunday/the Sabbath
 14 73 13
Spanking your child when he/she misbehaves
 7 80 13
Making a lot of money
 4 83 13
Dancing
 4 83 13

Definitions of Sin, by Religious Perspective…

Types of Behavior
 Born Again Not Born Again Evangelical Not Evangelical Attend Protestant Worship Attend Catholic Worship Attend Other Worship
Adultery
 97% 72% 100% 79% 92% 82% 82%
Racism
 88 66 96 71 87 79 85
Using “hard” drugs such as cocaine, heroine, meth, LSD, etc.
 81 55 91 61 78 68 82
Not saying anything if a cashier gives you too much change back
 81 53 94 59 79 63 68
Having an abortion
 78 43 94 52 72 74 53
Homosexual activity or sex
 78 38 93 47 72 49 70
Not reporting some income on your tax returns
 72 40 94 47 67 50 63
Reading or watching pornography
 74 36 93 45 72 51 55
Gossip
 74 31 98 41 70 45 52
Swearing
 71 32 87 41 67 48 65
Sex before marriage
 70 30 92 39 68 47 59
Homosexual thoughts
 66 31 76 40 62 40 61
Sexual thoughts about someone you are not married to
 66 29 84 38 64 45 57
Smoking marijuana
 60 30 80 36 57 38 70
Doing things as a consumer that harm the environment
 49 36 48 40 50 39 45
Getting drunk
 65 27 90 35 63 28 63
Not taking proper care of your body
 52 26 69 31 48 34 57
Gambling
 48 19 65 25 50 15 45
Telling a “little white lie” to avoid hurting someone’s feelings
 45 19 66 24 46 24 33
Using tobacco
 35 16 47 20 34 13 52
Not attending church or religious worship services on a regular basis
 24 15 33 16 23 39 40
Watching an R-rated movie
 29 12 45 15 32 13 33
Playing the lottery
 32 9 43 14 31 7 36
Being significantly overweight
 27 11 39 14 25 11 12
Not giving 10% of your income to a church or charity
 32 7 42 13 32 9 26
Drinking any alcohol
 23 9 28 12 24 6 27
Working on Sunday/the Sabbath
 19 10 18 13 20 13 31
Spanking your child when he/she misbehaves
 5 8 3 8 10 11 9
Making a lot of money
 4 4 1 4 5 4 2
Dancing
 7 2 8 3 8 3 4

Definitions of Sin, by Demographics…

  Types of Behavior
Male
Female
Age <35
Age
35 – 54
Age 55+
White
Black
Hispanic
Adultery
 77% 85% 72% 84% 83% 80% 94% 74%
Racism
 70 77 69 75 75 72 84 71
Using “hard” drugs such as cocaine, heroine, meth, LSD, etc.
 58 71 60 64 68 63 71 63
Not saying anything if a cashier gives you too much change back
 56 70 58 64 65 63 66 56
Having an abortion
 51 60 56 58 53 54 63 57
Homosexual activity or sex
 54 51 44 54 56 49 65 52
Not reporting some income on your tax returns
 46 57 46 50 56 53 50 46
Reading or watching pornography
 42 57 42 48 57 48 58 49
Gossip
 43 51 37 47 52 46 57 40
Swearing
 42 50 45 44 49 44 62 43
Sex before marriage
 42 48 46 43 47 43 55 36
Homosexual thoughts
 45 43 40 45 46 42 51 44
Sexual thoughts about someone you are not married to
 40 46 43 41 45 41 47 43
Smoking marijuana
 37 44 38 39 44 38 46 46
Doing things as a consumer that harm the environment
 41 41 36 42 43 40 51 40
Getting drunk
 38 44 33 39 47 40 55 27
Not taking proper care of your body
 35 36 38 32 38 35 38 27
Gambling
 27 32 30 31 27 26 40 33
Telling a “little white lie” to avoid hurting someone’s feelings
 30 27 32 29 27 27 42 26
Using tobacco
 23 23 31 22 19 20 27 26
Not attending church or religious worship services on a regular basis
 17 19 18 20 16 17 13 19
Watching an R-rated movie
 16 21 16 18 21 17 28 17
Playing the lottery
 16 19 19 18 16 16 27 18
Being significantly overweight
 17 16 16 16 18 18 18 8
Not giving 10% of your income to a church or charity
 16 16 17 18 13 13 28 16
Drinking any alcohol
 13 14 12 16 12 13 17 14
Working on Sunday/the Sabbath
 15 12 17 14 10 13 17 17
Spanking your child when he/she misbehaves
 7 7 7 9 6 7 7 10
Making a lot of money
 4 3 3 5 2 4 5 3
Dancing
 5 3 5 5 2 4 6 4

Definitions of Sin, by Geography…

  Types of Behavior
 Northeast Midwest South West Small Town/Rural Suburban Urban
Adultery
 80% 79% 86% 76% 85% 80% 77%
Racism
 71 71 78 72 77 72 72
Using “hard” drugs such as cocaine, heroine, meth, LSD, etc.
 62 62 69 61 69 63 60
Not saying anything if a cashier gives you too much change back
 58 61 72 54 67 63 55
Having an abortion
 52 57 62 48 60 55 51
Homosexual activity or sex
 46 53 56 50 58 50 47
Not reporting some income on your tax returns
 46 52 55 50 55 52 45
Reading or watching pornography
 44 48 54 49 57 48 39
Gossip
 37 50 52 41 52 46 40
Swearing
 39 46 51 42 52 45 37
Sex before marriage
 39 44 51 40 49 44 39
Homosexual thoughts
 42 45 48 37 51 42 36
Sexual thoughts about someone you are not married to
 41 41 45 42 50 40 36
Smoking marijuana
 31 41 44 42 43 39 38
Doing things as a consumer that harm the environment
 38 42 43 38 45 38 40
Getting drunk
 34 41 48 34 48 37 34
Not taking proper care of your body
 32 38 35 36 36 37 32
Gambling
 26 31 34 23 35 25 28
Telling a “little white lie” to avoid hurting someone’s feelings
 24 27 34 26 36 24 24
Using tobacco
 20 23 24 23 26 21 20
Not attending church or religious worship services on a regular basis
 23 20 17 14 21 18 12
Watching an R-rated movie
 15 23 20 14 25 13 18
Playing the lottery
 13 22 20 12 22 13 18
Being significantly overweight
 14 17 17 17 19 15 17
Not giving 10% of your income to a church or charity
 10 18 20 12 19 13 18
Drinking any alcohol
 12 16 15 10 21 10 9
Working on Sunday/the Sabbath
 11 16 12 15 16 11 14
Spanking your child when he/she misbehaves
 9 7 6 9 10 5 8
Making a lot of money
 4 5 3 3 5 3 3
Dancing
 2 6 4 3 5 3 3

Definitions of Sin, by Political Perspectives…

 Types of Behavior
 Politically Conservative Politically Moderate Politically Liberal Republican Independent Democrat
Adultery
 87% 86% 67% 88% 78% 77%
Racism
 80 76 63 79 73 71
Using “hard” drugs such as cocaine, heroine, meth, LSD, etc.
 76 67 46 76 62 58
Not saying anything if a cashier gives you too much change back
 71 64 50 71 63 55
Having an abortion
 69 58 38 68 51 50
Homosexual activity or sex
 70 53 29 66 48 43
Not reporting some income on your tax returns
 64 49 39 64 47 45
Reading or watching pornography
 62 53 31 62 45 44
Gossip
 58 48 31 56 45 40
Swearing
 57 50 26 56 39 43
Sex before marriage
 60 45 25 59 37 38
Homosexual thoughts
 56 47 24 52 41 37
Sexual thoughts about someone you are not married to
 54 45 26 51 42 35
Smoking marijuana
 53 43 22 52 33 36
Doing things as a consumer that harm the environment
 38 44 39 39 40 45
Getting drunk
 51 44 24 48 34 39
Not taking proper care of your body
 46 33 25 42 32 31
Gambling
 36 32 18 34 28 27
Telling a “little white lie” to avoid hurting someone’s feelings
 39 29 15 31 30 24
Using tobacco
 29 23 16 26 19 22
Not attending church or religious worship services on a regular basis
 24 17 11 24 15 16
Watching an R-rated movie
 26 18 8 23 14 18
Playing the lottery
 24 18 9 23 12 16
Being significantly overweight
 23 13 14 20 16 15
Not giving 10% of your income to a church or charity
 21 16 10 19 16 16
Drinking any alcohol
 19 14 7 17 11 14
Working on Sunday/the Sabbath
 20 11 10 16 10 13
Spanking your child when he/she misbehaves
 7 7 8 7 6 9
Making a lot of money
 4 3 4 4 3 4
Dancing
 6 2 3 6 2 4

*Numbers may not add to exactly 100% due to rounding.

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