God & Ganja

Religious Differences from Dating Data

Context

Mixmosa was a dating service that organized 2,961 in-person dates (primarily in major Texas metro areas in 2021 and 2022). All results in this post can be reproduced with this dataset (and you can interactively play around with a subset of the data here).

Note that this dataset of singles primarily in their 20s - 40s may not be representative of the broader population. Also note that the “religious” group in the data is overwhelmingly Christian and Catholic (90%), but also includes Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists.

Also, take this with a grain of salt, this isn’t a scientific paper :)

Highlights

• Agnostics and Atheists are smarter, more neurotic, less tolerant of political differences, and want less kids.

• Spiritual people smoke weed and have more sexual partners.

• Religious people use less drugs, get along better with their families, and want more children.

Religiosity is Associated with Lower Intelligence

Secular People are More Neurotic

Agnostics and atheists are more neurotic than spiritual and religious people on average. 

Religiosity and Drug Use

Religious people drink less, smoke less marijuana, and are less likely to have used psychedelics. 

Religiosity and Number of Sex Partners

The median religious person had sex with one sexual partner over the past 12 months, whereas the median spiritual person had between 2-4 partners.

Religious People Get Along Better with their Family

92% of religious people said they got along well with their family, as compared to 82% of atheists and agnostics, and 84% of spiritual people.

Religious People More Tolerant of Differing Political Beliefs

Users were asked how comfortable they’d be being friends with someone who disagreed with them on important political topics. Atheists and agnostics were the least comfortable, and religious people the most.

Religiosity and Desire for Children

The median religious person wanted 2-3 children, whereas the median agnostic / atheist wanted 1.