Who Believes in the Devil?



Belief in “the devil” is as high as it’s been since pollsters started to inquire, according to two polls released in February.

A poll released February 26 by Harris Interactive showed that 68% of Americans believe in “the devil.” A Gallup poll, released the same week but based on surveys conducted in 2001, came up with the same 68% number, the highest figure they’ve recorded since they started asking the question in the 1950s. The previous high for Gallup was 1994 (65.5%); in some years, the numbers dropped as low as 51% (1991) and 60% (1968). In most decades, the rate hovered between 55% and 62%.

Both surveys found that while belief in the devil is higher among those with less education, most highly educated people also share that belief. A staggering percentage of people with postgraduate degrees believe in the devil–55% according to Gallup and 52% according to Harris &#0151 as do 66% of urban dwellers (Gallup).

Neither of the polls attempt to define what people mean by “devil.” Gallup did try to dissect that question in 1978, when they found that 34% of respondents believed in the devil as a “personal being who directs evil forces and influences people to do wrong.” In the same poll, 36% of people said they believed the devil was an “impersonal force that influences people to do wrong.”

The Harris poll also covered a variety of other issues, such as angels, miracles, and reincarnation. Here, too, the results tend to shatter some of the stereotypes held by New York media types, who tend to think only uneducated Southerners believe in the really hardcore aspects of religion.

Although the analysis accompanying the online Harris survey stressed that religiosity increased as education decreased, that misses the far more interesting point–the strong religiosity of even the well-educated. Specifically, most people with post-graduate degrees believe in:

Hell (53%)

Miracles (72%)

Survival of the soul after death (78%)

The Virgin birth (60%)

The resurrection of Christ (64%)

The percentage of those with postgraduate degrees believing in God was 85%, compared to 92% among those with high school or less &#0151 not an enormous chasm.

The other fascinating finding buried in the Harris poll is the huge size of the spiritual gender gap, which is much greater than the gap based on education. 89% of women believe in survival of the soul after death compared to 78% for men. 89% of women believe in Heaven; 75% of men do. 58% of women believe in ghosts, while 45% of men do.

The Gallup poll of 1,012 adults, conducted by telephone between May 10 and 14, 2001, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points; the Harris poll of 2,201 adults, conducted online within the United States between January 21 and 27, 2003, had a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.

The 1968 Gallup poll surveyed 3175 adults; the 1991 Gallup poll surveyed 1626 adults; the 1994 Gallup poll surveyed 1016 adults. All three polls were similarly worded and conducted. The 1978 Gallup poll (on whether the devil is a personal being or impersonal force) surveyed 2729 adults.



(This article reprinted courtesy of Beliefnet.com.)

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