Although the United States is known worldwide to be a religious nation, few Americans say that faith is a top priority in their life.

Nearly 90 percent of Americans, according to the CIA World Factbook, identify themselves with a religion. But only 12 percent of American adults say faith is a top priority in their life, according to a new study released Monday by the Barna Group. About three-quarters of the U.S. population is Christian.

Looking at the Christian faith demographic, evangelicals are the most likely to say faith is the highest priority in life (39 percent), while Catholics are the least likely (4 percent), according to the Barna study.

About one in five Protestants (18 percent) and churchgoers (18 percent) – whose frequency of church attendance was not defined – say faith is the highest priority in their life.

By far, the highest priority for Americans is family. Forty-five percent of Americans say their family is the most important aspect in their life. The second most important priority is health/leisure/balanced lifestyle (20 percent), followed by wealth/profession/making money/success/finances (17 percent), and faith (12 percent).

“People are not turning to others – like family members or God – in the face of economic trials,” Kinnaman said. “Instead, they are focusing increasingly on themselves, trying to solve their problems by being more ‘balanced’ or by simply working harder.”[T]he economy has revealed Americans’ fixation with individualism and their illusions of being self-made,” he added.