Religion can help lower depression, maintain optimism, provide social support and offer other benefits to people around the world left behind amid the shifting demands of the global economy, new research finds.

The idea of a Protestant or Puritan work ethic, that individuals work harder, save more and seek economic success as signs of a diligent faith, has worked its way into national lore. But in looking at the religious engines of economic growth, new research indicates it may be just as helpful to talk about an Islamic ethic or a Jewish ethic or a Buddhist ethic.