Overwhelming shares of Muslims, Christians and Hindus in the countries surveyed say they believe in God, including many who are absolutely certain in this belief. But Buddhists are less likely to believe in God, and in this survey we sought to expand religious measurement tools beyond questions – such as about belief in God – that are implicitly geared toward Abrahamic, monotheistic religions.
For example, the survey also asked about unseen beings, unseen powers and other spiritual forces. Majorities across the countries surveyed – including especially large shares of Buddhists – say they think there are unseen beings in the world, such as deities or spirits. Younger individuals and those with more education are more likely than older adults or people with less education to believe in unseen beings, the opposite of the age pattern found with many measures of religious belief and practice around the world.
It is far less common for people to think unseen forces protect or attack them. But belief in the supernatural is widespread throughout the region: Half or more of adults surveyed in all six countries say they think spells, curses or other magic influence people’s lives, while similar shares in most of these countries believe in the evil eye. And clear majorities in each country believe in angels or helpful deities (though fewer tend to believe in demons or evil deities).
Most people across the region also believe in fate and karma. This is true not only among Buddhists and Hindus but also among Muslims and Christians, even though karma is not traditionally associated with Islam or Christianity.
The survey also asked respondents whether their religion is the only true religion, finding a range of views. Most Hindus say “many religions can be true,” while most Muslims say “my religion is the only true religion.” Buddhists and Christians are more evenly divided.
Belief in God
Nearly all respondents in Indonesia (99%) and Malaysia (98%) say they believe in God, and the same is true for large majorities in Sri Lanka (85%) and Singapore (78%). Far fewer Thai (48%) and Cambodian (44%) adults believe in God.
Across the countries surveyed, almost universal shares of Muslims, Christians and Hindus say they believe in God. However, Buddhists are less likely to believe.
This reflects the fact that belief in God is not an essential element of Buddhism. For example, in Singapore, 99% of Muslims and Christians say they believe in God, compared with 80% of Buddhists.
Buddhists who have more education are somewhat less likely than other Buddhists to believe in God. For instance, 37% of Thai Buddhists who have completed a secondary education believe in God, while 45% of Thai Buddhists with less education say the same.
In Singapore, 79% of those who identify with Chinese traditional religions and 41% of the religiously unaffiliated express belief in God.
Across the region, women generally are more likely than men to believe in God. For example, nearly nine-in-ten Sri Lankan women affirm this belief, versus eight-in-ten Sri Lankan men.
Few Buddhists certain of belief in God
Respondents who said they believe in God were asked how certain they are in this belief. Most Muslims, Christians and Hindus say they are “absolutely” certain of God’s existence, though Muslims generally are more likely than Christians or Hindus to say this. Relatively few Buddhists believe in God with complete certainty.
Adults with less education are slightly more likely than others in their country to be “absolutely” certain about their belief in God. In Cambodia, 12% of adults who have not completed a secondary education believe in God with absolute certainty, while just 4% of adults who have completed a secondary education feel this level of certainty about God.
Among Buddhists, younger adults (ages 18 to 34) are less inclined to believe in God with absolute certainty. For instance, in Singapore, 13% of younger Buddhists take this position, while twice as many Buddhists ages 35 and older say the same (26%).
Beliefs about unseen beings, like deities or spirits
In all six countries, majorities say they believe there are unseen beings, like deities or spirits, in the world. Inverting the pattern for belief in God, Cambodia (72%), Singapore (71%) and Thailand (71%) are the countries with the highest shares who think unseen beings exist.
Also, a majority of Buddhists in each country surveyed say they believe in unseen beings like deities or spirits, unlike belief in God. And more of Singapore’s religious “nones” say there are unseen beings in the world (56%) than say they believe in God (41%).
In most surveyed countries, people with higher levels of education are more likely than those with less education to say they believe in unseen beings. This pattern differs from other measures of religious or spiritual belief in the region, in which highly educated people typically are less religious.
For instance, 76% of Singaporeans who have a postsecondary degree think there are unseen beings in the world, while 65% of other adults in Singapore hold this belief.
Younger adults (ages 18 to 34) are a little more likely than their elders to say they believe in unseen beings, again in contrast with the global trend in which younger adults tend to be less religious. For example, two-thirds of younger adults in Malaysia think there are unseen beings like deities or spirits, slightly higher than the 61% of older adults who say this.
Buddhist women in the countries surveyed are slightly more likely than Buddhist men to think there are unseen beings in the world.
Most are not absolutely certain that unseen beings exist
All respondents who said they believe in unseen beings like deities or spirits were asked how certain they are of this belief. Though majorities in almost every religious group think there are unseen beings in the world, in no group does a majority say they are absolutely certain of this. And among Buddhists, the more common response is that they are only fairly certain in this belief.
Among Muslims, men are more likely than women to express absolute certainty in the belief that there are unseen beings. For example, 37% of Muslim men in Indonesia hold this view, compared with 20% of Muslim women.
Also among Muslims, those who have completed more education are somewhat more likely than those with less education to feel certain about the existence of unseen beings. By contrast, among Buddhists, those who have completed more education are slightly less likely to believe in unseen beings with complete certainty.
Belief in angels and demons
Majorities in every country surveyed believe that angels or helpful deities exist, including roughly nine-in-ten adults in both Indonesia and Malaysia. Within individual religious communities, too, most people across the region believe in angels – including 59% of Singapore’s followers of Chinese traditional religions, 77% of Sri Lankan Buddhists and Hindus, and 89% of Indonesia’s Christians. Only among Singapore’s religiously unaffiliated adults do fewer than half hold this belief (38%).
In several countries, people are substantially less likely to say they think demons or evil deities exist. For example, while 76% of Sri Lankans believe in angels, 48% say the same about demons. And though Muslims in other countries are more likely than other religious groups to believe in demons or evil deities, Sri Lankan Muslims are the group least likely to say this in the country.
In Buddhist-majority countries, adults who have completed less education are more likely than others to say they believe in angels or helpful deities.
Do unseen powers protect or attack people?
Although many people in the surveyed countries believe in unseen beings, it is less common for people to feel that unseen powers protect them. For instance, 13% of Sri Lankans say they feel protected by an unseen power on a daily basis, while about one-in-five feel this way less often. Most Sri Lankan adults (62%) never have this feeling.
Even smaller shares feel attacked by unseen powers; majorities in each country say they never feel this way, including 74% in Sri Lanka.
Overall, Christians are somewhat more likely than other religious communities to feel daily protection by unseen powers, while Buddhists are among the least likely to say this. In Singapore, 32% of Christians say they feel protected by an unseen power every day, while 8% of Buddhists say the same.
Even among Christians, however, no more than one-in-ten in any country say they have the feeling of being attacked by unseen powers daily.
People who pray daily are more likely than others to say they feel protected by unseen powers on a daily basis. For example, in Malaysia, 17% of those who pray daily feel such daily protection, compared with only 8% of other adults.
Belief in fate
In all the region’s major religious communities, most adults say they think fate exists, including a near-universal share of Indonesian Muslims (96%). Even among Singapore’s religiously unaffiliated, 59% of adults believe in fate. (Fate is often defined as the idea that important events, or even the overall course of one’s life, are largely or wholly preordained.)
Among Buddhists, those who say religion is very important are especially likely to believe in fate. For instance, while 89% of Sri Lankan Buddhists who place great importance on religion say fate exists, 73% of other Sri Lankan Buddhists believe this.
Changing fate through rituals
While belief in fate is widespread across the countries surveyed, in some places, substantial shares say they have changed their fate by performing rituals. Cambodians (51%) and Sri Lankans (45%) are more likely than people in the other countries surveyed to say they have done this.
In general, Buddhists and Hindus are more likely than Muslims and Christians to claim they have changed their fate. Indeed, while 95% of adults in Muslim-majority Indonesia believe in fate, just 6% say they have ever changed their fate through rituals.
Across the countries surveyed, adults ages 35 and older are modestly, but consistently, more likely than younger adults (ages 18 to 34) to say they have changed their fate by performing rituals. For example, 49% of older Sri Lankan adults say they have altered their fate through rituals, while 37% of younger adults say the same. Among Buddhists, those who pray daily tend to be more likely to say they have changed their fate by performing rituals.
Belief in karma
Roughly three-quarters or more adults in all six surveyed countries say they believe karma exists. (Although the survey did not define the term, karma is generally described as the idea that people will reap the benefits of their good deeds, and pay the price for their bad deeds, often in future lives.) This includes near-universal shares in Cambodia (97%) and Thailand (95%).
Overall, Buddhists and Hindus are especially inclined to think karma exists, which may not be surprising considering that the concept is often associated with these traditions.14 But even most Muslims and Christians in the region believe karma exists, including 86% of Muslims and 69% of Christians in Indonesia.
Singapore’s Christians are the only religious community in the countries surveyed in which fewer than half of adults think karma exists (46%). Among Singapore’s followers of Chinese traditional religions, 86% believe in karma, as do 65% of the religiously unaffiliated.
Most Buddhists see importance in making merit
Buddhists who took the survey were asked how important “making merit” is in their lives. According to Buddhist teachings, making merit is something people can do in this life to better their situation in a future life; it also can be seen as something that brings happiness in the nearer future. Making merit can come from many actions – such as meditation or giving offerings to temples, monks or the poor.
Roughly eight-in-ten or more Buddhists in each country surveyed say making merit is very or somewhat important. In the Buddhist-majority countries surveyed, majorities say making merit is very important, including nearly all Buddhists in Sri Lanka (96%).
Buddhists who pray daily are more inclined than other Buddhists to place great importance on making merit. For example, 58% of Singaporean Buddhists who pray daily say making merit in their lives is very important, compared with 34% of those who pray less often.
Younger Buddhists (ages 18 to 34) are somewhat less likely than their elders to say making merit is very important. For instance, half of younger Thai Buddhists place great importance on making merit, while nearly two-thirds of older Buddhist adults say this.
Similarly, Thai and Cambodian Buddhists with more education are less likely than other Buddhists in these countries to feel that making merit is very important. Though 59% of Cambodian Buddhists who have completed a secondary education say making merit is very important, the share increases to 73% among other Buddhists in the country.
Belief in spells, curses and other magic
About half or more of adults in each country think that spells, curses or other magic influence people’s lives, including nearly eight-in-ten Cambodians.
This belief is held by substantial shares of Buddhists, Muslims, Christians and Hindus in the countries surveyed. For example, at least half of people in all four religious groups in Singapore say they think magic influences people’s lives. Even among Singapore’s religiously unaffiliated population, 37% hold this view.
In several countries surveyed, those who place great importance on religion are more likely than others to say spells, curses or other magic influences people’s lives. For example, in Malaysia, 71% of adults who say religion is very important to them also think magic influences people’s lives, compared with 55% of other adults.
Belief in the evil eye
In five of the six countries surveyed, roughly half or more of adults say they think the evil eye exists, including as many as 85% in Malaysia. Thailand, however, stands out, with only 16% expressing this belief.
Although the evil eye was not defined for respondents, it’s typically understood as the idea that certain people can cast curses or spells that cause bad things to happen to others.
Muslims often are among the most likely to think the evil eye exists. For instance, in Malaysia, 91% of Muslims believe in the evil eye, while smaller shares of Christians (70%), Hindus (68%) and Buddhists (53%) share this view.
Among Buddhists in some of the countries surveyed, adults with less education are somewhat more likely to say the evil eye exists. For instance, 53% of Cambodian Buddhists who have not completed a secondary education believe in the evil eye, compared with four-in-ten Cambodian Buddhists who have a secondary education.
In general, those who pray daily are more likely than others to say the evil eye exists.
Is your religion the one true faith?
When asked to choose between two statements – “My religion is the only true religion” or “Many religions can be true” – Muslims tend to express an exclusivist view of their religion. In Malaysia, 87% of Muslims say their religion is the only true faith. By contrast, most Hindus feel that many religions can be true.
Buddhists and Christians in the region are more evenly split. For example, in Sri Lanka, slim majorities in both communities say their religion is the only true one, while most Malaysian Buddhists and Christians say many religions can be true. And Christians in Indonesia and Singapore are evenly divided between these two perspectives.
Alongside religious identification, demographic indicators such as age and education also correlate with views on religious exclusivism.
Among Buddhists, younger people and those with higher levels of education are more likely to say that many religions can be true. For example, 60% of Buddhists under 35 in Sri Lanka say many religions can be true, compared with 33% of older Sri Lankan Buddhists.
And in Cambodia, 59% of Buddhists who have completed a secondary education say many religions can be true, while just 26% of other Cambodian Buddhists say the same.
