With respect to marriage, about 20% of former Latter-day Saints are married to believing members of the Church, and about 30% are married to former Latter-day Saints. And, according to our findings, former Latter-day Saints are twice as likely to have been divorced than Latter-day Saints generally, and nearly four times as likely to identify as LGBTQ. We also found that former Latter-day Saints were more than four times less likely to have had their marriages sealed in the temple when compared with current Latter-day Saints.

Inquiring why individuals left the church was included in our survey, albeit with reservations. The relationship one has with an institution of faith has been compared to marriage, and research has shown that divorce narratives are subject to certain understandable biases when asking couples to explain the reasons for divorce. Much like asking why a marriage ended, responses to questions about why people split with their faith are by nature subjective and influenced by strong feelings and biases. This illustrates the challenge of relying upon survey data alone for an accurate and more comprehensive understanding of matters of faith.