Religion, Spirituality, and Prosocial Behavior

Virtues

Moral and ethical principles promoted in major religions, shaping character and behavior

Religious experience

Intense feelings or encounters related to faith and spirituality

Faith

Belief system guiding a way of life and character development

Goals

Imagined or envisioned states or conditions driving voluntary activity

Intention

Vital for understanding aspirations and goals, stressed by Allport (1961)

Religious goals

Objectives related to faith and spirituality, varying in effort and passivity

Personal strivings

Meaningful objectives sought daily, including non-religious goals like achievement and happiness

Religion and emotion

Religious regulation and control of feelings and experiences, impacting beliefs and behaviors

High-arousal positive states (HAP)

Intense positive emotional states often associated with ecstatic religious experiences

Low-arousal positive states (LAP)

Meditative positive emotional states often associated with religious experiences

Religious awe and wonder

Emotions related to spiritual experiences, difficult to characterize

Well-being

Pursuit of happiness, satisfaction, and positive mental and physical health

Spiritual well-being

Relating to oneself, interpersonal relationships, physical world, and the spiritual or divine

Forgivingness

Disposition of being forgiving, emphasized in Christianity and other religions

Decisional forgiveness

Intent to forgo revenge and treat offender as a person of value

Emotional forgiveness

Replacement of negative emotions associated with forgiveness with positive emotions toward the offender

Self-forgiveness

Realization of offense, attempts to make amends, and decision to forgive oneself

Religion and forgiveness

Complex relationship between religion and forgiveness, influenced by individual and religious factors

Compassion

Being moved by another's suffering and wanting to help, valued in all major religions

Self-compassion

Openness to one's suffering without disconnecting from it, leading to healing with kindness to oneself

Prosocial behavior

Act of showing love and kindness to others, promoted by most world religions and spirituality

Intrinsic faith

Religious motivation predicting helping others, associated with altruism

Extrinsic faith

Religious motivation showing little relationship to helping others

Spirituality

Epitomized by compassion and compassionate love, contributing to prosocial behavior

Religious prosociality

Act of helping others influenced by religious and spiritual factors