People in richer nations associate success with hard work rather than religion

How much influence to you have in your own success – or is it determined by outside factors?

Is it hard work that makes you successful or something else?

When Pew Research Center surveyed people in 44 countries  57% of Americans disagreed with the statement “Success in life is pretty much determined by forces outside our control,” a higher percentage than most other nations and far above the global median of 38%.

Hard work pays off

True to the stereotype, surveys showed that Americans are more likely to believe that hard work pays off.

When asked, on a scale of 0 to 10, about how important working hard is to getting ahead in life, 73% of Americans said it is was a “10” or “very important,” compared with a global median of 50% among the 44 nations.

Americans also stand out for their religiosity and optimism, especially when compared with other relatively wealthy countries.

In general, people in richer nations are less likely than those in poorer nations to say religion plays a very important role in their lives.

But Americans are more likely than their counterparts in economically advanced nations to deem religion very important. 

More than half (54%) of Americans said religion was very important in their lives, much higher than the share of people in Canada (24%), Australia (21%) and Germany (21%), the next three wealthiest economies we surveyed from 2011 through 2013.

People in richer nations tend to place less emphasis on the need to believe in God in order to be moral and have good values than people in poorer countries do.

While the share of Americans holding that view is far lower than in poorer nations like Indonesia and Ghana (each 99%), the U.S. stands out when compared with people in other economically advanced nations.

In the U.S., 53% say belief in God is a prerequisite for being moral and having good values, much higher than the 23% in Australia and 15% in France, according to Pew’s study of 39 nations between 2011 and 2013.

For more details on the role of religion in people’s lives, by country, see Pew Research’s full topline 2011-2013 findings.