A poll released this week finds that more than half of U.S. adults say that faith should not influence business decisions, but most are comfortable sharing their religious beliefs at work.
The “Faith in Business” survey, conducted by Marist for Deseret News, found that 51% of respondents either disagreed or strongly disagreed that faith should play a role.
Among the remainder, 47% of adults agreed or strongly agreed that it should be a factor, and 2% said they were unsure.
However, the survey found that 85% of all respondents said they’re comfortable sharing their religious beliefs with coworkers.
“Americans are largely comfortable with those they work with knowing their personal religious beliefs; however, a majority feel one’s religious beliefs should not influence their business decisions,” the survey’s executive survey states.
Responses varied according to religious affiliation, with 58% of Christians and 69% of Americans who practice any religion saying it should be a factor.
Among those who said they do not practice a religion, 65% disagreed that faith should play a role in business decisions.
The survey also found that most Americans of all ages, including Christians, say their religion does not “play a role in where they choose to work or the businesses where they shop.”
According to the survey, 61% of Americans said their religion or faith plays no role in their job choices and 61% said the same about their shopping choices.
Among Christians, 55% said their faith does not influence where they decide to work and 55% said they do not consider it when deciding where to shop.
The Salt Lake City-based Deseret News, one of Utah’s oldest newspapers, is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Using live interviewers, the Marist College Poll conducted the landline and mobile telephone survey of 1,653 U.S. adults in collaboration with Deseret on Jan. 19-26. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.
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