(RNS) — Social scientists have long demonstrated that religious attendance can be good for you. People who go to church, synagogue or mosque are generally healthier, happier and have better social support, according to peer-reviewed research.
But do those effects extend to online services? And how do they compare to in-person experiences?
A study of 43 Christian worshippers by Duke University researchers offers some indications. The small study, published in the journal Psychology of Religion and Spirituality in July, suggests virtual church services are less effective on some individual measures than in-person worship.
The study, titled “The power of presence: Well-being and biopsychosocial effects of virtual versus in-person religious services,” asked volunteers recruited in North Carolina to attend two Sunday church services — one in person and one online, and to wear Fitbit trackers during both. The Fitbits measured their heart rate and the number of calories burned, and at the end of the service they were asked to jot down their average metrics.
Volunteers were also asked to complete a questionnaire recording their feelings immediately after each service, rating their agreement with statements such as “I feel I have a lot in common with the people in my congregation,” and “During the service, I felt as if the service changed me in some way.”
The study found that online services resulted in lower self-reported experiences of transcendence and emotions, shared identity with the congregation and closeness with God, compared with in-person attendance. Well-being scores were similar for both types of services.
An individual checks a smart watch. (Photo by Brett Sayles/Pexels/Creative Commons)
It also found that on average, people attending church in person had a higher heart rate during the service — 84 heartbeats per minute versus 79 heartbeats per minute for the online service. In-person worshippers also burned more calories, an average of 161, compared with watching on their devices, which averaged 127 calories.
“We’re not suggesting that virtual worship is bad, or that it doesn’t bring any benefits,” Patty Van Cappellen, the lead researcher and an associate research professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke, told RNS on Tuesday (Aug. 19). “What we’re showing is that it doesn’t replicate exactly the in-person experience. There are differences.”
Online worship has grown ubiquitous in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, when most religious services went virtual. Even after in-person worship resumed, many congregations kept online services, which some had begun even prior to the pandemic.
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A 2023-24 Pew Research Center study found that 23% of Americans said they watched religious services online or on TV at least once a month, and 76% of Americans watched online services a few times a year or less. One-third said they attended religious services in person at least once a month, and 67% said they attended religious services in person a few times a year or less.
With online services here to stay, social scientists are eager to study how they compare with in-person worship. Van Cappellen said this study was intended as a starting point from which to do more research.
“In some follow-up work we want to study a little bit more the ways that people worship virtually to see if there are better ways to improve the experience of virtual worship,” she said.
For example, online services might benefit from adding a chat function where worshippers can greet each other online. Additional camera angles might allow online worshippers to see fellow congregants in the pews and not just the person or people leading the service.
“This study doesn’t give the final word on everyone’s experience with virtual versus in-person worship,” Van Cappellen said. “That’s something we want to do in future research, but it’s a start.”
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