The Association of Prayer Frequency and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: A Comparative Study of the USA, India and Turkey

Abstract

This study explores whether Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Inglehart’s values paradigm underlies associations between prayer frequency and happiness. Responses from a comparative analysis of wave six from the World Values Survey for India (n = 4078), Turkey (n = 1605) and the USA (n = 2232) were used to examine associations between prayer frequency and happiness. Prayer frequency interacted with Maslow’s model to associate with happiness in India and Turkey. The self-expression variables entirely supplant prayer and are associated with happiness in the USA. The implications are discussed for generating models that impact happiness.