Health & Medicine
Christians are the Happiest Tweeters: Religious Groups Connect through Social Media
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Jun 26, 2013 01:53 PM EDT
Whether it's to save social media face or they're blessed with the holy spirit, a new study suggests that Christians are the happiest tweeters on the planet.
In fact, when researchers reviewed a computer analysis of nearly 2 million text messages on the online social network Twitter, they found that Christians were more likely to use positive words and engage in less analytical thinking than atheists. Christian tweeters were also more likely to tweet about their social relationships, according to the study.
"Whether religious people experience more or less happiness is an important question in itself," the authors of the new analysis wrote, according to a press release. "But to truly understand how religion and happiness are related we must also understand why the two may be related."
Study authors identified Christian and atheist Twitter users by studing the tweets of more than 16,000 followers of a few proiment Christian and atheist personalities on Twitter, which were then analyzed through tweets for their emotional content and frequency of word choice and analytical thinking style.
Overall, Christian tweets had a more positive thinking style, and incorporated a higher use of the words like "brother," "friend" and other vernacular into their world choice.
"If religious people are indeed happier than nonreligious people, differences in social support and thinking style may help to explain why," said University of Illinois graduate student Ryan Ritter, who conducted the research with U. of I. psychology professor Jesse Preston and graduate student Ivan Hernandez, according to a press release.
However, this study also suggests that religion may not be the only reason for possible greater happiness. In fact, researchers believe higher amounts of shared communication commonly seen in religious communities may be an explanation for greater acceptance and contentment.
"Religious communities are very social. Just being a member of a religious group connects people to others, and it may be this social connection that can make people happier," Preston said. "On the other hand, atheists had a more analytical thinking style in their tweets than Christians, which at extremes can make people less happy."
What do you think?
The findings are reported in the journal Social Psychological & Personality Science.
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First Posted: Jun 26, 2013 01:53 PM EDT
Whether it's to save social media face or they're blessed with the holy spirit, a new study suggests that Christians are the happiest tweeters on the planet.
In fact, when researchers reviewed a computer analysis of nearly 2 million text messages on the online social network Twitter, they found that Christians were more likely to use positive words and engage in less analytical thinking than atheists. Christian tweeters were also more likely to tweet about their social relationships, according to the study.
"Whether religious people experience more or less happiness is an important question in itself," the authors of the new analysis wrote, according to a press release. "But to truly understand how religion and happiness are related we must also understand why the two may be related."
Study authors identified Christian and atheist Twitter users by studing the tweets of more than 16,000 followers of a few proiment Christian and atheist personalities on Twitter, which were then analyzed through tweets for their emotional content and frequency of word choice and analytical thinking style.
Overall, Christian tweets had a more positive thinking style, and incorporated a higher use of the words like "brother," "friend" and other vernacular into their world choice.
"If religious people are indeed happier than nonreligious people, differences in social support and thinking style may help to explain why," said University of Illinois graduate student Ryan Ritter, who conducted the research with U. of I. psychology professor Jesse Preston and graduate student Ivan Hernandez, according to a press release.
However, this study also suggests that religion may not be the only reason for possible greater happiness. In fact, researchers believe higher amounts of shared communication commonly seen in religious communities may be an explanation for greater acceptance and contentment.
"Religious communities are very social. Just being a member of a religious group connects people to others, and it may be this social connection that can make people happier," Preston said. "On the other hand, atheists had a more analytical thinking style in their tweets than Christians, which at extremes can make people less happy."
What do you think?
The findings are reported in the journal Social Psychological & Personality Science.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone