Using a dataset of 15,000 subjects from 32 Western countries, the current study examines individuals who were raised in a certain religion and, at some stage of their lives, left it. Currently, they define their religious affiliation as ‘no religion’. A battery of explanatory variables (country-specific, personal attributes and marriage variables) was employed to test for determinants of this decision. It was found that the tendency of individuals to leave their religion—the most extreme symptom of secularization—is strongly correlated with their liberal beliefs and with parental and spousal religious characteristics. Moreover, country characteristics, as well as personal socio-demographic features seem to be much less relevant, except for the religious diversity of the country that has a positive effect on disaffiliation.

This study delves into the relationship between income inequality and subjective well-being by gauging the role played by opportunities at the country level. Using data from the World Value Survey, we estimate multilevel models to explain cross-country differences in individuals’ life satisfaction. Opportunity and inequality exert a significant effect per se on life satisfaction, and their joint effect explains the puzzling positive relationship between income inequality and life satisfaction in low- and middle-income countries. Income inequalities reduce the well-being of individuals if opportunities are low, but inequality is not relevant for life satisfaction if opportunities in the country are high. Among the aspects of opportunity that really matter, we show that inclusiveness and access to advanced education play a more major role than political freedom or personal rights. Results apply for different social, income, and education groups.

Prenatal exposure to sex hormones exerts organizational effects on the brain which have observable behavioural correlates in adult life. There are reasons to expect that social behaviours—fundamental for the evolutionary success of humans—might be related to biological factors such as prenatal sex hormone exposure. Nevertheless, the existing literature is inconclusive as to whether and how prenatal exposure to testosterone and oestrogen, proxied by the second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D : 4D), may predict non-selfish behaviour. Here, we investigate this question using economic experiments with real monetary stakes and analyse five different dimensions of social behaviour in a comparatively large sample of Caucasian participants (n = 560). For both males and females, our results show no robust association between right- or left-hand 2D : 4D and generosity, bargaining or trust-related behaviours. Moreover, no differences in behaviour were found according to sex. We conclude that there is no direct correlation between 2D : 4D and these social behaviours.

Over the past half century, a literature has developed across a range of disciplines exploring the relationship between religion and environmental engagement, including pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours. Empirical results are diverse and the relationship seems to vary in size and direction, depending on definitions and the method of investigation adopted. An increasingly important phenomenon which has received far less attention is that of spirituality, within/out the context of a religion. This paper contributes to the literature by examining the question in a predominantly Roman Catholic European Union country where church attendance is in decline. It employs a nationally representative dataset (n = 1029) which includes diverse measures of religiosity and spirituality, as well as measures of interest in environmental issues, in wildlife and natural history, and engagement in countryside activities and gardening, together with relevant socio-economic control variables. Our findings confirm that the usual socio-economic determinants are associated with this type of environmental engagement. We find that church attendance adds no further explanatory power to environmental engagement. On the other hand, participation in socio-cultural religious activities and self-assessed spirituality are positively and significantly associated of various dimensions of environmental engagement.