72% Of Americans Consider Religious Faith to Be ‘Very Important’ Among Values.

Asked about guiding principles in their lives, nearly three-quarters (72%) of the U.S. adult population consider “holding to religious faith and belief” to be “very important,” according to the most recent survey data from Mediamark Research Inc.

These people are far more likely to support traditional gender roles for men and women than are people who say that religious faith is “not important” to them, according to the MRI data.

Founded in 1979, MRI interviews 26,000 U.S. adults in their homes each year, asking about their use of media, their consumption of products and their lifestyles and attitudes. In 2002, the company added a battery of questions about personal values the questionnaire.

“If you look at the data from three years ago, 71 percent of Americans said holding to religious faith and belief was very important to them,” said Anne Marie Kelly. “So the number really hasn’t changed since 2002. The overwhelming majority of American adults are clear that holding closely to one’s religious faith is an important guiding principle in their lives.”

The 72% of Americans who consider faith to be “very important,” are 23% more likely than the general population to also feel that following traditional gender roles for men and women is very important. The 14% of adults who said holding to religious faith and belief is “not important” to them are 71% less likely than the general population to cite following traditional gender roles as an important guiding principle. This group also is 15% more likely than the general population to cite having material possessions and money as “very important,” and 10% more likely to cite the desire for adventure and risk as an important value.