What percentage of adult performers report religious or spiritual affiliations?
Executive summary
The materials provided contain no data on adult performers specifically, so a direct percentage for that occupational group cannot be calculated from these sources; instead, available national surveys offer benchmarks for U.S. adults: roughly 47% describe themselves as “religious,” about one‑third as “spiritual but not religious,” and survey estimates of the religiously affiliated range from about 60–70% depending on the source [1] [2] [3] [4]. These population benchmarks can inform hypotheses about adult performers but cannot substitute for occupation‑specific measurement.
1. What the question actually asks — and what the sources do and don’t supply
The user asks for the share of adult performers who report religious or spiritual affiliation, which requires survey or administrative data tied to that occupation; none of the supplied documents present occupation‑level results or any measure specific to adult performers, so the record here is silent on the population of interest and the answer must rely on broader adult benchmarks and explicit caveats rather than direct evidence.
2. National adult benchmarks: multiple snapshots, similar contours
Large national polls show consistent broad patterns among U.S. adults: a 2023 Gallup item found nearly half (47%) self‑identify as religious, 33% as spiritual but not religious, 2% as both, and 18% neither [1] [2]. Pew analyses across multiple recent surveys report that roughly 60–70% of U.S. adults identify with a religion while the “nones” or unaffiliated account for about 28–31% in the 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study [3] [4]. Another study (PRRI) gives a slightly different breakdown—29% both spiritual and religious, 18% spiritual but not religious, 22% religious but not spiritual, and 31% neither—underscoring variation across instruments and definitions [5].
3. Why reported percentages differ — measurement, definitions and timing
Differences among Gallup, Pew, PRRI and other analysts reflect divergent question wording (self‑identity vs. practice vs. beliefs), sampling frames, timing, and analytic definitions of “spiritual” and “religious”; for example, one analyst using GSS items concluded fewer than 20% are “spiritual but not religious” under that operational definition, a lower estimate than Gallup’s headline figure and illustrating how choice of metric shifts results markedly [6] [1].
4. Why occupational extrapolation is hazardous — performers may not mirror the general public
Inferring the religious or spiritual profile of adult performers from general population benchmarks risks error: occupation groups often differ from the general population by age, education, geography, migration history and stigma‑driven nonresponse, all of which correlate with religiosity; none of the supplied sources provide occupation‑level stratification or any study of “adult performers,” so any extrapolation would be conjecture rather than evidence‑based (sources supplied do not address the occupation question).
5. Hidden agendas and data provenance that shape reported numbers
Surveys cited here come from organizations with differing missions and funders that can shape questionnaire design and dissemination: PRRI’s study referenced was funded in part by the John Templeton Foundation (noted in the PRRI report), a detail that matters because funders sometimes influence research focus and framing even when methods are sound [5]. Pew and Gallup emphasize methodological transparency but still differ in sampling and question wording, producing the range of headline estimates [1] [3] [4].
6. Bottom line — what can be said, and what cannot
From the provided sources one can say: among U.S. adults roughly half identify as religious and about a third describe themselves as spiritual but not religious, while overall religious affiliation is commonly reported between about 60% and 70% depending on the survey [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. What cannot be stated from these materials is the percentage of adult performers who report religious or spiritual affiliations, because no source here measures that specific occupational group; answering the original question would require a targeted survey or dataset that identifies occupation alongside religiosity measures.