Religion, Spirituality and Well-Being

Religion, Spirituality, and Well-Being

Religion vs. Spirituality

  • Spirituality: A personal or group search for the sacred in life.

  • Religion/Religiosity: A search for the sacred within a traditional context, such as a formal religious institution.

Age and Religious Importance

  • Younger adults are less likely than older adults to consider religion very important in 46 countries.

  • In Georgia and Ghana, older adults (ages 40+) are less likely to say religion is very important in their daily lives.

  • Pew Research Center data (2008-2017) shows:

    • 40% of Americans aged 18-29 find religion very important.

    • 65% of Americans aged 65+ find religion very important.

Religiousness vs. Spirituality

  • Self-transcendence: Relating to something greater than oneself.

    • Vertical transcendence: Example: God.

    • Horizontal transcendence: Example: Tao.

Belief in Higher Power

  • One-third of U.S. adults believe in a higher power of some kind, but not in God as described in the Bible.

  • Data:

    • Believe in God as described in the Bible: 56%

    • Believe in some other higher power/spiritual force: 23%

    • Do not believe in God, but believe in some higher power/spiritual force: 9%

    • Do not believe in any higher power/spiritual force: 10%

Spirituality and Quality of Life

  • There's a linear relationship between spirituality and quality of life.

    • Linear = 0.442 (Day, 2017; Kim-Prieto & Miller, 2018; Paloutzian & Park, 2005)

Religion and Mental Well-Being

  • Better emotional well-being and lower rates of delinquency, alcoholism, and drug abuse (Donahue and Benson, 1995).

  • Life satisfaction across all ages (Peacock and Paloma, 1999).

  • Increased positive emotions and virtues.

  • People with spiritual/self-transcendent strivings/goals experience:

    • Positive emotions.

    • Higher SWB (Subjective Well-Being).

    • Better physical health.

    • More concern for others (empathy) (Ciarrocchi, Dy-Liacco & Deneke, 2008; Matlby, Lewis & Day, 1999; Oman & Thoesen, 2005).

Religion and Culture

  • Size of Major Religious Groups in 2010 (Percentage of the global population):

    • Christians: 31.5%

    • Muslims: 23.2%

    • Hindus: 15.0%

    • Unaffiliated: 16.3%

    • Buddhists: 7.1%

    • Folk Religionists: 5.9%

    • Jews: 0.2%

    • Other Religions**: 0.8%

Religion Around the World

  • Mentions of Islam, Kabbalah, and Buddhism.

  • Buddhism:

    • Uposatha

    • Nirvana

    • Enlightenment

Wong’s Noetic Happiness

  • Need something higher and deeper to get through bad days.

  • Happiness in a noxious world is predicated on the human capacity to transcend and transform negative experiences through meaning and faith (Wong, 2008b).

  • Greatest achievement: ability to experience the invisible spiritual reality and discover shining stars in the darkest night of the soul.

  • We become nobler, purer, kinder, and more generous when we dig deep into our innermost being and reach out to the highest heaven while struggling to survive unimaginable terror and torment.

  • For suffering beings, happiness has a deeper meaning than positive affect, life satisfaction, or subjective well-being.

Noetic Happiness

  • A spiritual or transcendent kind of good life understanding the finitude of life the humility of letting go repentance and forgiveness loving-kindness to all bearing the fruit of righteousness.

  • Noetic Happiness vs. Eudaimonic Happiness

Learning About Culture, Religion, or Spiritual Practice

  • Effective ways to learn: Observation, Language Study, Research, Immersion, or something else?

Religious Participation and Health

  • Religiosity and Health: A Global Comparative Study (Zimmer, Rojo, Osfetedal, Chiu and Saito, 2019)

  • Religious participation and self -assessed health by country

Religion and Physical Well-Being

  • Importance of God and self-assessed health by country

  • Religiosity and Health: A Global Comparative Study (Zimmer, Rojo, Osfetedal, Chiu and Saito, 2019)

Religion and Physical Health

  • Greater Religiosity is correlated with: Fewer illnesses, Lower rates of cancer and heart attacks, Quicker recovery, Greater pain tolerance, Longer life.

  • Factors: Learned “hardiness”, Positive emotions, Generativity, Religious music, Better social support.

  • Religion dispels meaninglessness.

  • Stavrova’s research indicates a potential increase of 7 years in lifespan.

Religious Tenets that Promote Well-Being

  • The “Golden Rule.”

  • Better to give.

  • Gratitude.

  • Forgiveness.

  • Helping others.

  • Meditation.

  • Prayer.

  • Meaning and purpose.

  • Ultimate meaning.

Religion and Meaning

  • What does it mean to have meaning?

  • Imagine the following scenario… life has inherent value and is worth living. Have you discovered ultimate meaning?

Perspectives on Faith and Knowledge

  • "Faith without knowledge can be dangerous?"

  • OR…

  • "Faith is everything and knowledge is irrelevant?"

Religion and Meaning

  • Personal/Situational Meaning vs. Cosmic/Global Meaning

  • Meaning and Subjective Well-Being:

    • Positive emotions

    • Buffer against stress

    • Having vs. Searching

  • Personal/Situational Meaning (Pinquart, 2002)

Creating Meaning

  • Personality Traits:

    • Extraversion

    • Conscientiousness

  • Social Support and purpose

  • Spiritual commitment

  • Self-enhanced meaning

  • Personal/individual process?

Meaning-Making in the Face of Tragedy

  • Connection

  • Significance

  • Adapting (Park, 2011)

  • “After…(tragic event)…I lost faith in…(source of meaning).”

  • “I was devastated by…(tragedy)…but I came to realize that…(reappraisal of tragedy)…”

Creating Meaning

  • Living in harmony with yourself and the world: Religion/spirituality providing answers, a sense of control/predictability; hope.

  • Serving others.

  • Creativity.

  • Live deeply.

  • Suffering.

  • Why suffering? (Park & Folkman, 1997; Yalom, 1980; Frankl, 1963; Emmons, 1999; Lillan, 2015; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1995)

Suffering

  • Tedeschi and Calhoun (1995):

    • Confidence

    • Enhanced relationships

    • Opportunity to enhance or alter one’s meaning philosophy

  • Have you grown from your Suffering? (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1995)

Religion/Life Philosophy and Coping

  • James: Prayer is the “essence of religion.”

  • Forgiveness, support, compassion, and hope.

  • 77% report praying at least occasionally; 55% report praying daily.

  • Prayer types

  • Whittington and Scher (2010): Less ego-focused prayer

  • Do you have a spiritual or religious practice/activity?

  • Lambert, et al (2010): Daily colloquial prayer

Prayer and Physical Health

  • Better post-op emotional health in cardiac patients.

  • Greater vitality and mental health.

  • Greater psychological WB.

  • Decreased depression after cardiac surgery.

  • Benson’s research

Religious Experiences

  • Epiphany

  • Sacred emotions: Elation, Awe

  • Moral acts of beauty (Haidt, 2000)

  • Mother Teresa Study: Help others, Affiliation, Love, compassion, Well-being

Religious Experiences and Spiritual Awakenings

  • Have you witnessed an act of compassion? When? What was that like?

Religious Experiences

  • Awe: a deep appreciative wonder

  • A sense of perceived vastness

  • An inability to conceive of the experience in a way that makes sense.

  • Reflection: Slow down, Savor the moment, Love's Big picture (Schneider)

Religious Experiences

  • Wonder

  • Imagination

  • Joy

  • Gratitude

  • Love (Stolberg)

  • Experiences: personal, physical, metaphysical

  • How can wonder be induced? (Stolberg) Mindfulness