'Mormons in America' Pew survey explores beliefs, attitudes of LDS Church members

Among other interesting findings of the Pew Forum's survey of Mormons:

71 percent of respondents reside in the American West, including 53 percent who live in the Mountain states and 34 percent who live in Utah;

88 percent are white, 7 percent Hispanic, 1 percent black and 4 percent other racial and ethnic backgrounds;

50 percent say that evangelical Christians are generally unfriendly to Mormons;

54 percent say that the way their religion is portrayed on television and in movies hurts society's image of Mormons;

57 percent of Mormons said that most or all of their close friends are other Mormons (this number was significantly higher in Utah, where the number climbed to 73 percent);

65 percent of respondents say they hold a current temple recommend;

27 percent say they believe in yoga not just as exercise but as a spiritual practice;

11 percent say they believe in reincarnation;

74 percent were raised in the LDS Church;

59 percent of converts cite the church's beliefs as the main reason they joined the church;

59 percent of converts joined the church between the ages of 18 and 35;

27 percent have served a full-time mission, including 43 percent of men and 11 percent of women;

82 percent say they have a supply of food in storage, and 58 percent keep at least a three-month supply.

The margin of error for the survey is +/- 4.5 percentage points.

"I think this survey is a really good summary of the hyper-committed Mormon community that shows up at church every week," Cornwall said. "I'm not sure it captures Mormons on the margins very well, but that's OK — hopefully we can do that the next time. Meanwhile, this is a pretty good picture — and an interesting picture — of Mormons."

Listen to and download audio soundbites of Michael Purdy, spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, discussing the Pew study:

Clip 1 - Study takes a deeper look at beliefs

Clip 2 - There is a national conversation going on about the church

Clip 3 - There's a connection between satisfaction in life and religious belief

EMAIL: jwalker@desnews.com