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Religiosity, attitudes toward science, and public health: evidence from Finland

Author

Listed:
  • Laliotis, Ioannis
  • Mourelatos, Evangelos
  • Lohtander, Joona

Abstract

We explore how religiosity influences perceptions and the adoption of protective health behaviours, as reflected in COVID-19 infection and vaccination rates. In the first part of our analysis, we use Finnish data from four nationally representative surveys, we find that individuals with higher self-reported religiosity and those from more conservative religious groups tend to hold less favourable attitudes towards science, technology and medicine, compared to non-religious individuals. In the second part, we observe that municipalities with higher shares of conservative religious groups experienced greater COVID-19 spread and lower vaccination rates, with these trends persisting throughout the pandemic. Our findings underscore the importance of accounting for religiosity when crafting public health policies, as it may contribute to the existence of non-compliance hotspots.

Suggested Citation

  • Laliotis, Ioannis & Mourelatos, Evangelos & Lohtander, Joona, 2025. "Religiosity, attitudes toward science, and public health: evidence from Finland," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 126615, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:126615
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/126615/
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Covid-19; Finland; religion; religiosity; coronavirus;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H10 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - General
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General

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