Religion and global cultural diversity

As a cultural species, humans show marked global diversity in preferences, beliefs, and behaviors (cultural traits). Of the many types of cultural traits, which ones generate the most global diversity across countries? We address this question by analyzing data for 640,110 individuals from 117 countries, 2,333 sub-national districts worldwide, and 13 birth cohorts surveyed in the World Values Survey (WVS) and the European Values Study (EVS). We measure cultural diversity using the standard Cultural Fixation Index (CFst). Across multiple sets of comparable cultural traits, we find that religious cultural traits are globally most diverse. In personal values, the emphasis on religion differs 5-10 times more than the emphasis on family, politics, or work effort across countries. Similarly, in qualities important for raising children, religion showed the most cultural divergence. Diversity in religious membership is also significantly higher, compared to memberships in political, environmental or sports organizations. This global divergence had two distinct sources: it was partly the result of differences among particular religious groups, namely Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, and Hindus; but in large part it was due to individual differences in the strength of religious engagement, irrespective of religious tradition. The results reveal the pervasive role of religion and secularization in the cultural evolution of societies.