In Crisis We Pray: Religiosity and the COVID-19

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In Crisis We Pray: Religiosity and the COVID-19. / Bentzen, Jeanet Sinding.

In: CEPR Discussion Paper Series , 2020, p. 52-108.

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Harvard

Bentzen, JS 2020, 'In Crisis We Pray: Religiosity and the COVID-19', CEPR Discussion Paper Series , pp. 52-108. <https://cepr.org/sites/default/files/news/CovidEconomics20.pdf#Paper2>

APA

Bentzen, J. S. (2020). In Crisis We Pray: Religiosity and the COVID-19. CEPR Discussion Paper Series , 52-108. https://cepr.org/sites/default/files/news/CovidEconomics20.pdf#Paper2

Vancouver

Bentzen JS. In Crisis We Pray: Religiosity and the COVID-19. CEPR Discussion Paper Series . 2020;52-108.

Author

Bentzen, Jeanet Sinding. / In Crisis We Pray: Religiosity and the COVID-19. In: CEPR Discussion Paper Series . 2020 ; pp. 52-108.

Bibtex

@article{f8f8bd0f4ae84ce39bc2250a97ca8692,
title = "In Crisis We Pray: Religiosity and the COVID-19",
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.",
author = "Bentzen, {Jeanet Sinding}",
year = "2020",
language = "English",
pages = "52--108",
journal = "CEPR Discussion Paper Series ",
publisher = "Centre for Economic Policy Research",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - In Crisis We Pray: Religiosity and the COVID-19

AU - Bentzen, Jeanet Sinding

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

M3 - Journal article

SP - 52

EP - 108

JO - CEPR Discussion Paper Series

JF - CEPR Discussion Paper Series

ER -

ID: 248850806