Is Religiosity Related to the Risk of Technology-Induced Job Loss?

This study tests a hypothesis that religious individuals are less likely than non-religious individuals to work in occupations associated with a risk of technology-induced job loss due to a general tendency towards risk aversion as well as lower prioritization given to material rewards. It combines data on religiosity from a Norwegian large-scale health survey (HUNT4, 2017‒2019) with assessments of the risks of technology-induced job loss, as indicated by a Routine Task Intensity (RTI) index collected from the O*NET Database, at the level of 358 occupations. Our findings show that religious individuals are less likely to work in occupations at risk of technology-induced job loss. Additionally, religious individuals tend to have lower incomes from work even at similar levels of education. The gap in occupational risks between religious and non-religious individuals is larger among men than women, and it holds across various types of religious activity, age groups, and levels of education.