State College, PA, USA. People who leave strict religious groups are more likely to say their health is worse than members who remain in the group, according to a Penn State University researcher. The percentage of people who left a strict religious group and reported they were in excellent health was about half that of people who stayed in the group, said Christopher Scheitle.

"Previous research showed some association between belonging to a religious group and positive health outcomes," Scheitle said. "We became interested in what would happen to your health if you left a religious group. Would people demonstrate any negative health outcomes?"

The researchers reported their findings in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior. About 40 percent of members of strict religious groups reported they were in excellent health, according to the study. However, only 25 percent of members in those groups who switched to another religion reported they were in excellent health. The percentage of the strict religious group members who dropped out of religion completely and said their health was excellent fell to 20 percent. The difference between switchers and non-switchers, in reference to health, is statistically significant for the strict groups.

Beer-Sheva, Israel. A new pre-publication study reveals that women in the United States generally derive more happiness from religious participation than from shopping on Sundays. Additionally, the repeal of "blue laws," which allow stores to open on Sundays, has a negative effect on the level of religious participation of white women and therefore has a negative impact on their happiness.

Interestingly, the authors did not observe any significant decline in reported happiness of other groups whose religious participation was not significantly affected by repeal.

The research also reveals that when Sunday blue laws are repealed, women who choose secular activities, such as shopping, are not happier. The repeal of blue laws decreases the relative probability of being at least "pretty happy" relative to "not happy" by about 17 percent.

Ann Arbor, MI, USA. Americans are united when it comes to many core values, according to a survey, but the nation is deeply divided about certain issues. Gay marriage, immigration, and universal healthcare lead the list. Those are the some of the findings from a series of three nationally representative surveys conducted by the Institute for Social Research (ISR) at the University of Michigan (U-M).

Three surveys were conducted as part of the monthly U-M/Thomson Reuters Surveys of Consumers in June and December 2009, and in March 2010. A fourth survey will be conducted in September 2010.

"More than 90 percent of those surveyed agreed that all people deserve equal opportunities in life," says sociologist Wayne Baker, the project's principal investigator. "Just about everyone also agreed that respect for people from different racial and ethnic groups, and for people of different faiths, is also important to them."