Chicken and egg

Some people are more gregarious, outgoing and positive than others and are likely to seek out like minded folks. My experience of churches has been of very varied personalities brought together because of a shared commitment. Same with groups of walkers, people interested in ongoing training for their dogs (that'd be me then, of necessity). So far as faith goes, I think Katek that the research shows that people who have faith are often happier, more content and less ill than those who don't have a faith. I'm not taking any kind of "line" here, it's simply something I've read often enough for it to have registered.
Whether that's because there is something about acceptance, valuing the god of small things, kindness to others, appreciating all god's creatures and nature and so on - all the major faiths have similar basic beliefs. I accept that fundamentalists in all faiths don't fit my simplistic approach to faith communities and no doubt my simplistic approach will be corrected by more sophisticated thinkers

Good point.

Did I join Gransnet because I enjoy online chat and debate or did the chat and debate I found here stimulate my enjoyment and make me want to stay part of the group?

I know what you mean, I think it is down to feeling a part of a community, one that suits them and they feel comfortable in.

Both I suspect, Katek.

It could be a spiral, with one aspect reinforcing the other. What causes the initial attraction might be an accident - a happy experience that attracted them back to the theatre or the church denomination. Show biz is often a family thing, actor parents swear that they didn't influence their children to go into the profession - warned them off it even - but they follow in father's/mother's footsteps just the same. I suppose that is what they saw around them as children, and also their personalities are partly inherited from their parents. If they feel they are expressing themselves in that profession, they will be happy and fulfilled there.

The same with children in a church-going family. That is normality for them, and most continue. The rebels go in the opposite direction, they feel their individuality pulls them to a different path. Either way they are influenced by their home environment - for or against.