Religion, Spirituality, and Well-Being Flashcards

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 Religion

• Younger adults are generally less likely than older adults to consider religion very important.
• In most countries, older adults (ages 40+) are more likely to say religion is very important in their daily lives.
• Exceptions: Georgia and Ghana, where older adults are less likely to emphasize religion.
• Data from Pew Research Center surveys (2008-2017) indicates varying levels of religious importance across age groups.
• Example: In America, 40\% of adults aged 18-29 find religion very important, compared to 65\% of adults aged 65+.

Religiousness vs. Spirituality

• Self-transcendence: Relating to something greater than oneself.
  • Vertical transcendence: Example, relating to God.
  • Horizontal transcendence: Example, relating to Tao.

Belief in Higher Power

• One-third of U.S. adults believe in a higher power but not in God as described in the Bible.
• Breakdown of beliefs:
  • 56\% believe in God as described in the Bible.
  • 23\% believe in some other higher power/spiritual force.
  • 10\% do not believe in any higher power/spiritual force.
  • 9\% believe in some higher power/spiritual force but do not believe in God as described in the Bible
• Source: Pew Research Center survey (Dec. 4-18, 2017).

Spirituality and Quality of Life

• There is a linear relationship between spirituality and quality of life.
• The relationship is expressed as: Linear 0.442
• (Day, 2017; Kim-Prieto & Miller, 2018; Paloutzian & Park, 2005)

Religion and Mental Well-Being

• Associated with better emotional well-being and lower rates of delinquency, alcoholism, and drug abuse (Donahue and Benson, 1995).
• Linked to life satisfaction across all ages (Peacock and Paloma, 1999).
• Increases positive emotions and virtues.
• People with spiritual/self-transcendent strivings/goals experience positive emotions, higher subjective well-being (SWB), better physical health, and 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\%.
  • Unaffiliated: 16.3\%.
  • Hindus: 15.0\%.
  • Buddhists: 7.1\%.
  • Folk Religionists: 5.9\%.
  • Jews: 0.2\%.
  • Other Religions: 0.8\%. Includes African traditional religions, Chinese folk religions, Native American religions, and Australian aboriginal religions.
  • Includes Bahai's, Jains, Sikhs, Shintoists, Taoists, followers of Tenrikyo, Wiccans, Zoroastrians and many other faiths.
    Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
    *Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life *Global Religious Landscape, December 2012

Wong’s Noetic Happiness

• 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.
• Happiness in the noxious world is predicated on the human capacity to transcend and transform negative experiences through meaning and faith.
• The greatest achievement of humanity is its ability to experience the invisible spiritual reality and discover shining stars in the darkest night of the soul (Wong, 2008b).
• 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.

Learning About Culture, Religion, or Spiritual Practice

• Effective methods:
  • Observation
  • Language Study
  • Research
  • Immersion

Religiosity and Health

• Religious participation and self-assessed health by country.
• 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:
  • Fewer illnesses.
  • Lower rates of cancer and heart attacks.
  • Recover more quickly.
  • Greater pain tolerance.
  • Live longer.
• Religion dispels meaninglessness.
• Stavrova’s research suggests a potential increase of 7 years in lifespan.
• Learned “hardiness”.
• Positive emotions.
• Generativity.
• Religious music.
• Better social support.

Religious Tenets Promoting 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?
• Life has inherent value and is worth living.
• Have you discovered ultimate meaning?

Faith and Knowledge

• "Faith without knowledge can be dangerous?"
• OR…
• "Faith is everything and knowledge is irrelevant?"

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 (Continued)

• 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 (Continued)

• 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 pray at least occasionally; 55\% report praying daily.
• Prayer types.
  *Whittington and Scher (2010) Less ego-focused prayer
• Lambert, et al (2010) Daily colloquial prayer

Prayer and Physical Health

• Benson’s research.
• Better post-op emotional health in cardiac patients.
• Greater vitality and mental health.
• Greater psychological well-being.
• Decreased depression after cardiac surgery.

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 (Continued)

• 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 (Continued)

• Wonder.
• Imagination.
• Joy.
• Gratitude.
• Love.
• Stolberg.
• Experiences personal physical metaphysical.
• How can wonder be induced? (Stolberg) Mindfulness