Figure 2 shows responses to the second ISSP measure of personal religious change, which asks, "Which best describes your beliefs about God—I don't believe in God now, and I never have; I don't believe in God now, I used to; I believe in God now, but I didn't used to; [or] I believe in God now, and I always have?"

 (Click for larger view of Figure 2.)

As the figure shows, the greatest increase in belief in God occurred in ex-Socialist countries, especially Orthodox societies undergoing a religious revival (Latvia, Russia, Slovakia, and Bulgaria). The least increase occurred in countries already having a high, established belief in God. Those with belief in God at the 80-97 percent level all had only 3-7 percent in the new belief group.

Overall, only about a third of countries (ten of the thirty-two) showed a net gain in believers—that is, the percentage of new believers minus the percentage of former believers was positive—and of these ten, the gains were less than five percentage points in six (Northern Ireland, the United States, the Philippines, Cyprus, Poland, and Chile). Only ex-Socialist countries undergoing a religious revival showed a moderate to large net gain in believers (Slovakia +5.6 percentage points, Bulgaria +9.8, Russia +22.9, and Latvia +25.6). Among the countries losing believers, the greatest net declines were in Australia (-14.2 percentage points), West Germany (-14.0), the Netherlands (-12.2), East Germany (-9.4), and Finland (-9.3).

It should be noted that the percentages in Figure 2 exclude the "can't choose" category. Although the percentages were fairly large (over 10 percent in some countries), including them does not clarify the picture any. However, it is worth mentioning that can't choose responses were lowest in countries with a high level of belief in God (from 2-14 percent) and highest in the less-believing nations (typically around 20 percent). Sweden and Japan had exceptionally high can't choose levels (31 percent and 38 percent, respectively). In the case of Japan, the high levels resulted in part from the foreignness to Shintoism of the ideal of a Supreme Being.

The two forms of personal religious change measured by the ISSP questions on turning points and belief in God were related to one another. In the United States, for example, 70 percent of new believers said they had experienced a religious turning point in their lives, compared to only 50 percent of those who had always believed in God and just 15 percent of nonbelievers. But since believers in the United States greatly outnumber nonbelievers, 88 percent of all turning-point experiences occurred among consistent believers.

Both religious changes were also closely related to other religious beliefs and behaviors in the United States. For example, 72 percent of Americans said they believed in miracles (see Figure 3), but while 74 percent who had experienced a turning point said they definitely believed in miracles, only 35 percent of those who had not had such an experience said so. Also, new believers were as religiously involved or more so than lifelong believers, with 83 percent reporting praying at least several times a week, compared to 77 percent of consistent believers.

Likewise, personal religious changes were found to be associated with nonreligious variables. For example, 41 percent of new believers in the United States said they were very happy, compared to 36 percent of consistent believers, 21 percent of former believers, and 16 percent of lifelong nonbelievers. Also, 60 percent of Americans who had experienced a turning point said they had never spent an evening in a bar, compared to 38 percent of those not having had such an experience. New believers were also most likely to have voted in the last presidential election (72 percent versus 63 percent for consistent believers, and 57 percent for both groups of nonbelievers), to think that most people are helpful (62 percent versus 47 percent for consistent believers, 43 percent for consistent nonbelievers, and 42 percent for former believers), and to say they were satisfied with their financial situations (33 percent versus 28 percent for consistent believers, 21 percent for consistent nonbelievers, and 18 percent for former believers). Those who experienced a religious turning point were more likely than others to rate their lives as "exciting" (50 percent versus 41 percent).