religion gives positive goals in life essay

5 Reasons Religion Can Positively Impact Your Life

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Religion is widely considered the foundation upon which our lives are based; we are guided by the principles and motivations to obtain the written goals in our religious texts. With that said, there are a few religions out there. And whether you were raised to follow the religion of the Latter Day Saint movement, and you are furthering your religious understanding with Archeological Evidence Of The Book Of Mormon , or you were raised to follow the ways of the Hindi religion, there is no right or wrong religion to follow.

The core principles and beliefs of most religions out there are intriguingly compatible with one another. There are numerous consistencies that most religions share, from the virgin birth to the resurrection and, of course, the ultimate deity watching over us. Most religions also have two or more afterlife’s, while a select few suggest that we are reborn on Earth. However, this only stresses the importance religion has maintained around the world for several centuries.

Regardless of which specific religion you decide to follow or your reasons for settling on a particular religious following, here are five reasons why religion will positively impact your life.

Strengthen Your Moral Compass

We all need a moral compass; without this attribute, we would find ourselves unable to determine right from one. Because the teaching of most religions encourages followers to do good always under the notion that a greater deity sees all, religion can strengthen your moral compass. Having a strong moral compass will positively impact all aspects of your life, from how you handle challenging situations to how you handle conflicts and everything in between.

Develop Empathy

It is said that empathy is the highest form of knowledge; it requires you to suspend your ego and genuinely relate to another individual or situation. Empathy is a staple learning for most religions, as most religious texts indulge the importance of empathy and how it will be rewarded in the long run. Empathy is not just crucial for religious growth, as we all need empathy to get through life. Understanding empathy can help you develop strong family bonds, deal with conflict in a mature manner, and enable you to lend a helping hand in the community where it’s needed. On the other hand, not having empathy will leave you unable to create bonds with anyone.

Less Stress

Many studies show that individuals who follow religion are less likely to experience high levels of stress. These statistics are likely based on the principle that those who follow religion feel they can leave their worries to a higher power. In addition to this, religious followers also tend to believe that their God is in control of their lives, which boils down to having no reason to stress and worry about things. As a result, following a religion faithfully will likely reduce your stress in general. And we all know just how much of a negative impact stress can have on our lives and overall health .

An Everlasting Sense Of Comfort

Those who don’t believe in life after death tend to feel a lot more lonely and disconnected in general. On the other hand, religion offers us a sense of everlasting comfort, as the belief in life after death is undeniably comforting. Knowing that you are not alone in the world can help keep depression at bay as well. Even conditions such as anxiety are generally less prominent within religious communities. The comfort received from faith is invaluable to life on Earth.

An Opportunity To Learn

Some would say that there isn’t much learning involved when it comes to religion. However, anyone that has ever delved into religious scripts would beg to differ. Religion can be a standalone study, as every religion has its very own unique history and teachings. Choosing to follow a religion means you will have the opportunity to learn and enhance your understanding of the past. There’s no doubt that any learning opportunity is valuable, as Einstein famously quoted the saying, “the value of an education is not within the teaching, but the training of the mind to think.”

There are several other benefits associated with following a religion, and all advantages will have an undeniably positive impact on all areas of your life. However, it is crucial to find a religion that compliments your core beliefs well, as some religions might not appeal to you. Unfortunately, if you have too many doubts and questions about any particular reason, following the teaching won’t be beneficial. You will be following with a subconscious goal of proving the religion wrong. Therefore, you should choose a religion that you are willing to follow with unbreakable faith and learn the teachings with an open mind to reap the many benefits.

Benefits For Children

There are also tons of benefits to raising children with religion. Studies show that children who come from religious and spiritual upbringing tend to be far more disciplined and ambitious than those raised without religion. This result may be because many religions encourage structure and routine within their practices; saying prayers before bed and reading scriptures each day scratches the surface of some religious systems.

So if you are wondering if introducing religion to your family will be a beneficial decision, you can also be certain that your children will benefit tremendously. With that said, you should also consider enrolling your children in a religious school to ensure teachings are complemented in their education. Your children will reap all the same benefits as you, and possibly even more as they will have a strong foundation of empathy, comfort, moral development, and many others. With that said, it is also crucial not to force religion onto children but rather introduce the following gradually while ensuring you are open to answering any questions they may have. Because there are tons of religions out there, be sure to opt for one that will compliment you and your family well. The changes should not be drastic, although gradual and comforting.

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Praying at dawn near Our Lady of the Rock, a church in the Mojave Desert, California. Photo by Zackary Canepari/Panos

Religion gives life meaning. Can anything else take its place?

by Michael M Prinzing   + BIO

Listen to this Idea.

Religious faith promotes a sense of meaning in life – and it might take more than ‘social glue’ to duplicate the effect

Theologians sometimes argue that, without the existence of God, life would be meaningless. Some secular people agree. For instance, in his book An Atheist’s Guide to Reality (2011), the philosopher Alex Rosenberg claims that, because the observable physical universe is all that exists, human life is meaningless. Whether you accept this philosophical claim or not, the fact that many people seem to believe that God or other supernatural entities are necessary for life to be meaningful suggests that, psychologically, there is some important connection between religious faith and the sense of meaning in life .

Although psychologists are divided on exactly how to define perceived meaning in life – some suggest it is about making sense of one’s life, others that it’s about seeing value and significance in it – they often assess meaning in life simply by asking how strongly people agree with statements such as: ‘At present, I find my life very meaningful.’ And research has consistently supported the idea that perceived meaning in life is tightly linked with religion. One study from the 1970s found that nuns scored higher on such measures than lay people. More recently, a study published in 2021 found that theists report experiencing more meaning in life than atheists. Numerous other studies have found that religiousness is positively correlated with perceived meaning in life. There is also some experimental evidence that, when presented with a threat to their sense of meaning, people show increased belief in miraculous events – suggesting that they are turning to religion to bolster their perceptions of meaning in life.

Of course, the observation that religion can be a source of existential comfort is not new. Since the 19th century, philosophers (eg, Friedrich Nietzsche ), novelists (eg, Fyodor Dostoyevsky) and sociologists (eg, Émile Durkheim) have speculated that societal trends away from religion would lead to a crisis of meaning. Since recent data indicate that people around the world are becoming less religious, it is natural to wonder whether secular society can duplicate the existential benefits of religion. In order to do so, we would need to understand how it is, exactly, that religious faith makes life feel meaningful.

Religious faith helps people to feel that they matter not just to others, but in the grand scheme of things

One possible explanation has to do with the way religion tends to act like social glue, drawing the faithful into likeminded communities. People often find social support and a sense of belonging within such communities, which can be a powerful source of perceived meaning in life. Imagine, for instance, the close personal relationships that someone might find in a Bible study group. Hence, one route from religion to the feeling that life is meaningful could be through this sense that one matters to others. We can call this explanation the ‘social mattering hypothesis’.

Another possibility is that religious faith helps people to feel that they matter not just to others, but in the grand scheme of things. The observable universe is inconceivably vast and ancient: it is approximately 93 billion light-years in diameter and c 14 billion years old. Against that backdrop, it’s easy to see why some regard humanity as utterly insignificant. As Stephen Hawking once put it , science tells us that humanity ‘is just a chemical scum on a moderate-size planet, orbiting around a very average star in the outer suburb of one among a hundred billion galaxies’. That’s not a particularly uplifting thought. In fact, in the experiment mentioned above, the ‘threat’ used to reduce participants’ sense of meaning was an essay about the smallness of human life in the vast expanse of time and space.

This is where religion comes in. Ernest Becker, a cultural anthropologist, argued in The Denial of Death (1973) that religious faith buffers people from the conclusion that humanity is cosmically insignificant by connecting us with an infinite being. Many religious traditions come with stories about the origins and purpose of the Universe. Many claim that humanity has some kind of important relationship with a higher power, that our lives are part of a grand plan, or even that the Universe was ‘designed with you in mind’. We find this idea in the Bible:

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have … crowned them with glory and honour. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet.

The author of this psalm seems to suggest that, despite our small size, human beings have special importance because of God’s love for us. It’s easy to see why someone who believed this would perceive their life to have cosmic significance and hence a great deal of meaning. We can call this explanation – the idea that religious faith supports perceived meaning in life by fostering a sense of cosmic significance – the ‘cosmic mattering hypothesis’.

These two candidate explanations were well summarised by Rabbi Harold Kushner. Defending the importance of religion, he wrote:

Religion offers us a cure for the plague of loneliness by bringing us into a community of people with whom we share what is most vital in our lives … [R]eligious faith also satisfies another, even deeper human need – perhaps the most fundamental human need of all. That is the need to know that somehow we matter, that our lives mean something, count as something more than just a momentary blip in the Universe.

The primary reason why religiousness is associated with perceived meaning in life is because it is also associated with perceptions of cosmic significance

To test these hypotheses, I and the psychologists Patty Van Cappellen and Barbara L Fredrickson recently conducted four studies that included more than 3,000 participants from across the United States. We used surveys to assess various aspects of religiousness, including attendance of religious services, private practices (such as prayer), and the self-rated importance of religion in one’s life. We assessed perceived meaning in life using questionnaires that ask how strongly study participants agree or disagree with statements such as ‘My life as a whole has meaning’ and ‘I am able to spend most of my time in meaningful activities and pursuits.’ We also assessed perceptions of social and cosmic mattering using questionnaires that asked participants how strongly they agreed or disagreed with statements such as ‘My life matters to other people’ (social mattering) or ‘My life matters in the grand scheme of the Universe’ (cosmic mattering).

Across these four studies, the results consistently supported both the social mattering and cosmic mattering hypotheses, but also suggested that the cosmic mattering hypothesis was by far the stronger of the two explanations. In other words, the correlation between religiousness and perceived meaning in life was statistically accounted for by both forms of perceived mattering – but perceived cosmic mattering accounted for a much larger proportion of that association. This suggests that the primary reason why religiousness is associated with perceived meaning in life is because it is also associated with perceptions of cosmic significance.

It’s worth reiterating that these studies were conducted in the US, where most religious people are adherents of Abrahamic monotheisms (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). Things might look very different in other cultures. But, if these findings are correct – at least in this Western context, where being religious typically means believing in a creator God – they raise the question of whether secular Western society is in a position to reproduce the existential benefits of religion.

Unfortunately, the data suggest a pessimistic answer. If religiousness were associated with perceived meaning in life primarily because of the social resources that come from religion, then new forms of social organisation could be developed to step in for religious ones. In fact, a number of ‘atheist churches’ have already been established with this goal in mind. Such communities are likely to be very beneficial for their members. Yet our research suggests that these secular substitutes will be less powerful sources of perceived meaning than religious faith because they are unlikely to support perceptions of cosmic significance.

Is it possible to cultivate a sense of cosmic significance without adopting religious beliefs? One might contribute to science (ie, attempt to comprehend the Universe), or work to protect Earth from the climate crisis or other global threats. These are enormously important and good things to do with one’s life. Yet the impacts of such endeavours are confined to the comparatively humble scale of our planet – which, again, is a very small part of the cosmos overall. Moreover, even if one’s efforts were successful, these secular sources of significance are likely to require an enormous amount of hard work, dedication and opportunities that are not available to everyone. Hence, religion might be a unique source of perceived meaning in life.

If you’re not religious, you might side with Karl Marx, who wrote that ‘Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.’ That is, you might think that religion makes life feel meaningful by fostering positive illusions – ie, it’s consoling, but nothing more than a fantasy. On the other hand, if you are religious, you might take this research to demonstrate the importance of faith, the distinctive and perhaps irreplaceable role that it plays in making life worth living.

In any case, one clear implication of this research is that a person’s sense that their life is meaningful depends on their perceptions of their own significance. But a person can be significant in various ways. Hence, those seeking to lead more meaningful lives would do well to seek out ways in which they can matter – whether that means mattering to other individuals, to their communities, or perhaps even in the grand scheme of the Universe.

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Beyond beliefs: does religious faith lead to a happier, healthier life?

The stress-reducing, life-extending benefits of religion can offer useful strategies even for non-believers, say scientists

I n his Pensées, published posthumously in 1670, the French philosopher Blaise Pascal appeared to establish a foolproof argument for religious commitment, which he saw as a kind of bet. If the existence of God was even minutely possible, he claimed, then the potential gain was so huge – an “eternity of life and happiness” – that taking the leap of faith was the mathematically rational choice.

Pascal’s wager implicitly assumes that religion has no benefits in the real world, but some sacrifices. But what if there were evidence that faith could also contribute to better wellbeing? Scientific studies suggest this is the case. Joining a church, synagogue or temple even appears to extend your lifespan.

These findings might appear to be proof of divine intervention, but few of the scientists examining these effects are making claims for miracles. Instead, they are interested in understanding the ways that it improves people’s capacity to deal with life’s stresses. “Religious and spiritual traditions give you access to different methods of coping that have distinctive benefits,” says Doug Oman, a professor in public health at the University of California Berkeley. “From the psychological perspective, religions offer a package of different ingredients,” agrees Prof Patty Van Cappellen at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

Studying the life-extending benefits of religious practice can therefore offer useful strategies for anyone – of any faith or none – to live a healthier and happier life. You may find yourself shaking your head in scepticism, but the evidence base linking faith to better health has been decades in the making and now encompasses thousands of studies. Much of this research took the form of longitudinal research, which involves tracking the health of a population over years and even decades. They each found that measures of someone’s religious commitment, such as how often they attended church, were consistently associated with a range of outcomes, including a lower risk of depression, anxiety and suicide and reduced cardiovascular disease and death from cancer .

Unlike some other areas of scientific research suffering from the infamous “replication crisis”, these studies have examined populations across the globe, with remarkably consistent results. And the effect sizes are large. Dr Laura Wallace at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, for instance, recently examined obituaries of more than 1,000 people across the US and looked at whether the article recorded the person’s religious affiliation – a sign that their faith had been a major element of their identity.

Publishing her results in 2018 , she reported that those people marked out for their faith lived for 5.6 years more, on average, than those whose religion had not been recorded; in a second sample, looking specifically at a set of obituaries from Des Moines in Iowa, the difference was even greater – about 10 years in total. “It’s on par with the avoidance of major health risks – like smoking,” says Wallace. To give another comparison: reducing hypertension adds about five years to someone’s life expectancy .

Health effects of this size demand explanation and scientists such as Wallace have been on the case. One obvious explanation for these findings is that people of faith live cleaner lives than the non-religious: studies show that churchgoers are indeed less likely to smoke, drink, take drugs or practise unsafe sex than people who do not attend a service regularly (though there are, of course, notable exceptions).

This healthier living may be the result of the religious teaching itself, which tends to encourage the principles of moderation and abstinence. But it could also be the fact that religious congregations are a self-selecting group. If you have sufficient willpower to get out of bed on a Sunday morning, for example, you may also have enough self-control to resist life’s other temptations.

Importantly, however, the health benefits of religion remain even when the scientists have controlled for these differences in behaviour, meaning that other factors must also contribute. Social connection comes top of the list. Feelings of isolation and loneliness are a serious source of stress in themselves and exacerbate the other challenges we face in life. Even something as simple as getting to work becomes far more difficult if you cannot call on a friend to give you a lift when your car breaks down.

Chronic stress response can result in physiological changes such as heightened inflammation, which, over the years, can damage tissue and increase your risk of illness. As a result, the size of someone’s social network and their subjective sense of connection with others can both predict their health and longevity, with one influential study by Prof Julianna Holt-Lunstad at Brigham Young University suggesting that the influence of loneliness is comparable to that of obesity or low physical exercise.

Religions, of course, tend to be built around a community of like-minded worshippers who meet regularly and have a shared set of beliefs. And many of the specific rituals will also contribute to a sense of communion with others. Christians, for example, are encouraged to pray on behalf of other people and this seems to bring its own health benefits, according to a brand new study by Prof Gail Ironson at the University of Miami.

Ironson has spent decades studying the ways that people with HIV cope with their infection and the influences of these psychological factors on the outcomes of disease. Examining data covering 17 years of 102 HIV patients’ lives, she found that people who regularly prayed for others were twice as likely to survive to the end of the study, compared with those who more regularly prayed for themselves. Importantly, the link remained even after Ironson had accounted for factors such as adherence to medications or substance abuse or the patient’s initial viral load.

Besides encouraging social connection, religion can help people to cultivate positive emotions that are good for our mental and physical wellbeing, such as gratitude and awe. Various studies show that regularly counting your blessings can help you to shift your focus away from the problems you are facing, preventing you from descending into the negative spirals of thinking that amplify stress. In the Christian church, you may be encouraged to thank God in your prayers, which encourages the cultivation of this protective emotion. “It’s a form of cognitive reappraisal,” says Van Cappellen. “It’s helping you to re-evaluate your situation in a more positive light.”

Awe, meanwhile, is the wonder we feel when we contemplate something much bigger and more important than ourselves. This can help people to cut through self-critical, ruminative thinking and to look beyond their daily concerns, so that they no longer make such a dent on your wellbeing.

Last, but not least, religious faiths can create a sense of purpose in someone’s life – the feeling that there is a reason and meaning to their existence. People with a sense of purpose tend to have better mental wellbeing, compared with those who feel that their lives lack direction, and – once again – this seems to have knock-on effects for physical health , including reduced mortality . “When people have a core set of values, it helps establish goals. And when those goals are established and pursued, that produces better psychological wellbeing,” says Prof Eric Kim at the University of British Columbia, who has researched the health benefits of purpose in life. Much like awe and gratitude, those positive feelings can then act as a buffer to stress.

These are average effects, which don’t always take into account that huge variety of people’s experiences. While some Christians might see God as a benevolent figure, others might have been taught that he is judgmental and punishing and those views can make a big difference in the effects on our health. In her studies of HIV patients, Ironson found that people who believed in a vengeful God showed a faster disease progression – as measured by their declining white blood cell count – compared with those who believed that he was a merciful figure.

Ultimately, most people’s faith will arise from real convictions; it seems unlikely that many people would adopt a particular religious view solely for the health benefits. But even if you are agnostic, like me, or atheist, this research might inform your lifestyle.

You can start by considering contemplative techniques, which come in many more forms than the mindful breathing and body-scan techniques that have proved so popular. Scientists have become increasingly interested in “loving-kindness meditation”, for example, in which you spend a few moments thinking warm thoughts about friends, strangers, even enemies. The practice was inspired by the Buddhist principle of mettā , but it also resembles the Christian practice of intercessory prayer. When practised regularly, this increases people’s feelings of social connection and empathy with the consequent benefits for their mental health . Importantly, it also changes people’s real-life actions towards others, for instance encouraging more pro-social behaviour .

To build more gratitude into your life, meanwhile, you might keep a diary listing the things that you have appreciated each day and you can make a deliberate habit of thanking the people who have helped you ; both strategies have been shown to improve people’s stress responses and to improve overall wellbeing. And to cultivate awe, you might go on a regular nature walk , visit a magnificent building within your city or watch a film that fills you with wonder.

If you have time and resources for greater commitments, you could also take up a voluntary activity for a cause that means a lot to you, a task that may help to boost your sense of purpose and which could also enhance your social life. Dr Wallace’s work has shown that the sheer amount of volunteering someone performs could, independently, explain part of the longevity boost of religious people, but charitable actions do not need to be linked to a particular faith for you to gain those benefits . “If people are able to plug into causes that really light up their intrinsic values, and then find a community that helps them reach their goals, that’s another way in which the framework of religion can be taken into a non-religious context,” says Prof Kim.

The challenge is to ensure that you build all these behaviours into your routine, so that you perform them with the same regularity and devotion normally reserved for spiritual practices. “The power of religion is that it gives you this package of ingredients that are pre-made and organised for you,” says Van Cappellen. “And if you are not religious you have to create it on your own.” You don’t need to make a leap of faith to see those benefits.

The Expectation Effect: How Your Mindset Can Transform Your Life by David Robson is published by Canongate (£18.99). It will be published in paperback (£9.99) on 29 December 2022. To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com . Delivery charges may apply

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What Role Does Religion Play in Your Life?

How would you describe your spiritual beliefs? Can you pick and choose which aspects of religion to follow?

By Nicole Daniels

Note: One of the questions in this forum was suggested by Katarina, a student. She asks: “Can you pick and choose which aspects of religion to follow?” If you have an idea for a question inspired by a New York Times article that we should ask in our Student Opinion column, you can submit it here .

Do you consider yourself to be a religious person? Is belief in a god, or many gods, important to how you live your life?

Even if you don’t consider yourself religious, do you ever participate in religious holidays or traditions? What are they, and why do you take part in them?

In “ Saying Goodbye to Hanukkah ,” Sarah Prager writes about celebrating traditionally religious holidays without religion:

Growing up, my sister and I ate our Hanukkah latkes next to stockings our mother had cross-stitched with depictions of Santa. The white flickering light from the menorah’s candles mixed with the glow of colorful electric lights on our locally cut Christmas tree, decorated with tinsel and Stars of David. Celebrating two holidays at once was normal and a joy. But I’m making different choices with my own children, who won’t grow up with Hanukkah at all. My sister and I never attended religious services for any Jewish or Christian holidays, but we were still raised with religion. My family attended a Unitarian Universalist meeting house where it was common to celebrate multiple religions’ holy days. We looked forward to the annual Festival of Lights, where each room of the building had a different activity set up: Kwanzaa candle dipping, gingerbread house decorating, reindeer craft making, dreidel spinning, Yule wreath building. My father’s Jewish tradition only appeared at Hanukkah for the American “holiday season.” We didn’t celebrate Passover or Rosh Hashanah or any other Jewish holiday as a family. In contrast, my mom’s Catholic upbringing emerged not only at Christmas, but also for Easter, though that was only about eggs, bunnies and the resurrection of spring, not Jesus. We celebrated every holiday secularly, like Halloween or Thanksgiving 一 except Hanukkah. Each of those eight nights we’d recite the Hebrew prayer about God while lighting the menorah. We memorized the syllables and repeated them, but they had no meaning to us and my parents didn’t expect, or want, us to believe what we were reciting. We were trying to honor my dad’s heritage, but it wasn’t a custom he truly wanted to hold on to.

Ms. Prager goes on to explain that, now, she and her wife identify as “nones” — people with no religious affiliation — and that they raise their children celebrating Christmas and Easter, but not in the context of religion:

I respect the incredible value of keeping traditions alive, especially those that centuries of persecution have sought to erase. But while I have more of a connection to Judaism than some, I am not Jewish and it doesn’t feel authentic to celebrate a Jewish holiday religiously. My kids may end up playing dreidel sometimes, but they won’t learn the prayer that begins Baruch atah Adonai , sacred words that are nonetheless empty to them. Discontinuing my family’s Hanukkah celebration fits right in with our family’s tradition of bucking tradition. Most families do this in some way, even if just adjusting the Tooth Fairy’s gift for inflation. As a queer person, I know my kids will grow up alongside other children whose families created their own way of doing things because the old way hurt or didn’t fit. Pride in June is my favorite holiday, but this year, the first as our completed family of four, we couldn’t go to a parade. I missed that much more than any holiday rooted in a religion that isn’t mine. I hope that the balloons, floats and rainbows that typically mark its celebration will be a special part of my children’s memories as they grow, and that they anticipate our invented Pride Fairy’s gifts as much as the Easter Bunny’s.

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

In a few sentences, how would you describe your religious or spiritual beliefs — or your choice not to subscribe to religion?

What role does religion play in your life? Do you pray each day? Do you participate in religious traditions through the clothes you wear or the food you eat? Do you have a spiritual community that is important to you? Do you participate in religious holidays?

Katarina, a student, suggested this question: “Can you pick and choose which aspects of religion to follow?” What do you think? Is it possible to participate in only some elements of a religion, like holidays or prayers, without following all of a religious tradition? Do you do this in your own life? If so, how do you decide which parts of your religion to observe and which parts to leave behind?

If you are not religious, do you have other beliefs, traditions or practices — like meditation, yoga, art, music or being in nature — that ground you or give you a deeper sense of purpose or connection to the world? If so, what are they and what do they mean to you?

Which holidays are most important to you? If they are traditionally religious, is their religious nature important to how you celebrate them? Or do you celebrate them without the religious stories or rituals, like the writer of the article?

To what extent is your relationship to religion your own choice? Is it important to your family that you are connected to religion? Do you observe your religion in the way you are instructed to by religious leaders or texts? Or have you been able to explore and form your own spiritual beliefs? When you grow up, do you think you will choose to practice religion differently than your family does now? Why or why not?

About Student Opinion

• Find all our Student Opinion questions in this column . • Have an idea for a Student Opinion question? Tell us about it . • Learn more about how to use our free daily writing prompts for remote learning .

Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Nicole Daniels joined The Learning Network as a staff editor in 2019 after working in museum education, curriculum writing and bilingual education. More about Nicole Daniels

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Positive and Negative Religious Beliefs Explaining the Religion–Health Connection Among African Americans

Cheryl l. holt.

a University of Maryland, School of Public Health, Department of Behavioral and Community Health

Eddie M. Clark

b Saint Louis University, Department of Psychology

David L. Roth

c Johns Hopkins University, Center on Aging and Health

Theory and literature suggests that the reason religiously-involved people tend to have good health outcomes is because they have healthy lifestyles and behaviors in accord with religious beliefs. Other literature suggests that religious involvement may play a negative role in health outcomes due to beliefs about illness originating as punishment for sins. These ideas were tested as part of a theoretical model of the religion-health connection, in a national sample of African Americans. Outcomes included a variety of health-related behaviors. Study participants (N=2,370) randomly selected from a US national call list completed a telephone survey assessing religious involvement, health behaviors, and demographic characteristics. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze study data. Findings indicate that perceived religious influence on health behavior mediated the relationship between religious beliefs and behaviors and higher fruit consumption, and lower alcohol use and smoking. Belief that illness is the result of punishment for sin mediated the relationship between 1) religious beliefs and higher vegetable consumption and lower binge drinking; and 2) religious behaviors and lower vegetable consumption and higher binge drinking. These findings could be applied to health education activities conducted in African American faith-based organizations such as health ministries, in the effort to eliminate health disparities.

Research has extensively examined the relationship between religious involvement, referring to “an organized system of [religious] beliefs, practices, rituals, and symbols” ( Thoresen, 1998 , p. 415)”, and a wide variety of physical and mental health outcomes ( Koenig, McCullough, & Larson, 2001 ). These relationships are generally agreed to be positive in nature (see Ellison, Hummer, Burdette, & Benjamins, 2010 ; Koenig, King, & Carson, 2012 for reviews), though some evidence of negative aspects of religious involvement and impact on health have been noted as well ( Exline, 2002 ; Mitchell, Lannin, Mathews, & Swanson, 2002 ; Pargament, 2002 ; Pargament, Koenig, Tarakeshwar, & Hahn, 2001 ). Additionally, these relationships are particularly relevant for segments of the population high in religiosity, such as African Americans ( Krause, 2002 ), who tend to have greater religious involvement than other groups ( Levin, Taylor, & Chatters, 1994 ; Taylor, Chatters, Jayakody, & Levin, 1996 ). This population suffers a notable burden of chronic disease and other health problems ( Pleis & Lethbridge-Çejku, 2007 ), including but not limited to cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer. Such conditions have often been found to be negatively associated with religious involvement (see Koenig et al., 2012 for review). An overarching goal of Healthy People 2020 is to attain health equity and eliminate health disparities, in which a health outcome occurs to a greater or lesser degree in a particular group ( U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010 ). Learning more about how religious involvement is connected to health can better inform interventions aimed at health disparities reduction, including faith-based programs, and efforts to increase cultural competence/humility among practitioners.

There have been several efforts, mainly through systematic reviews, to document why the relationship between religious involvement and health-related outcomes exists, or to identify the mediators/mechanisms of the religion-health connection. One review included mechanisms such as lifestyle/health behavior, social support, positive self-perceptions, coping, positive emotions, and healthy beliefs ( Ellison & Levin, 1998 ). Religious involvement was proposed in another review to impact physical health through healthy lifestyle and social support ( Musick, Traphagan, Koenig, & Larson, 2000 ). In a review focusing on longitudinal studies in this area, it was concluded that most have included mechanisms of healthy lifestyle, social support, self-esteem/self-efficacy, and sense of meaning ( George, Ellison, & Larson, 2002 ).

In their updated review, Koenig and colleagues (2012) provide hypothetical causal models of the religion-health connection. A Western model is described from a largely Christian context. In this model, multidimensional religion/spirituality (e.g., public, private, coping, etc.) leads to psychological traits such as self-discipline, patience, and forgiveness. These in turn lead to emotional states (positive/negative) and social connections, which impact physiological function, and finally health. An Eastern model follows, which is largely the same as the Western, except that rather than the religion/spirituality stemming from belief in God, the source is Brahman or Buddha. Finally, a secular model is proposed, in which the root source is self and community, which leads to a multidimensional concept including but not limited to public good, ethics, and justice, and the remainder of the model is the same as the others. Taken together, most models of the religion-health connection recognize the importance of a higher power and some form of multidimensional religious involvement, which lead to a set or series of mediators including but not limited to psychological traits and support from others, which ultimately impacts health outcomes. The next section describes two mediators of interest that were identified based on the aforementioned theoretical models.

Perceived religious influence on health behavior

Proposed theoretical models commonly reflect the idea that religiously involved people are healthier because they engage in healthy lifestyles in accord with their religious beliefs. This perceived religious influence on health behavior ( Holt, Clark, et al., 2009 ) may include avoiding behaviors such as such as drinking alcohol excessively, risky sexual practices, using illegal drugs, or tobacco use ( Ellison & Levin, 1998 ; George et al., 2002 ; George, Larson, Koenig, & McCullough, 2000 ; Levin & Vanderpool, 1989 ; Mullen, 1990 ; Musick, Traphagan, et al., 2000 ; Strawbridge, Shema, Cohen, & Kaplan, 2001 ). Such behaviors may reflect religious doctrine, or the general belief that the body is the temple of the holy spirit ( George et al., 2000 ). In the aforementioned review, Koenig and colleagues (2012) list a number of health behavioral pathways through which religious involvement may impact health, including physical activity, diet, weight control, sexual activity, smoking, and screenings. It was concluded that religious involvement may indeed impact physical health through greater engagement in these types of healthy behaviors.

Hill and colleagues (2007) examined whether religious individuals engaged in healthier lifestyles than less religious individuals, using a sample of Texas adults. They confirmed this idea, among both men and women, and across race/ethnic groups. They called for future research to determine whether healthy lifestyles serve as a mechanism whereby religious involvement plays a role in mortality reduction, which is where the current study contributes. Only recently has perceived religious influence on health behavior been operationalized in terms of assessing people’s specific beliefs about if/how their religious convictions impact their health behaviors ( Holt, Clark, et al., 2009 ). This enables the assessment of the construct in its mediational role as proposed by the aforementioned theoretical models.

Illness as punishment for sin

Though perceived religious influence on health behavior reflects a positive role of religious involvement in health, not all religious influences are positive/adaptive in nature. An exception is negative religious coping ( Pargament, Koenig, & Perez, 2000 ), which has been the focus of much previous research. Religious coping involves two overall dimensions, positive and negative ( Pargament, Feuille, & Burdzy, 2011 ). Positive religious coping is where an individual has a close relationship with a higher power, is spiritually connected with others, and has a benevolent world view. Negative religious coping involves spiritual struggle with one’s self, others, and a higher power. Research suggests that the negative dimension is predictive of health outcomes including mortality ( Pargament, Koenig, Tarakeshwar, & Hahn, 2001 ).

Another negative aspect of religious involvement is the idea that some people believe that illness may be the result of punishment for sins or wrongdoings ( Ellison, 1994 ). People who violate religious norms may experience feelings of guilt or shame, or they may fear punishment from God ( Ellison & Levin, 1998 ). Empirical literature on this specific concept has suggested the idea that serious illness such as HIV may be viewed as being the result of punishment for sin ( Crawford, Allison, Robinson, Hughes, & Samaryk, 1992 ; Kaldjian, Jekel, & Friedman, 1998 ; Klonoff & Landrine, 1994 ; Kopelman, 2002 ; Neylan, Nelson, Schauf, & Schollard, 1998 ). These beliefs around punishment may also be relevant in the context of cancer ( Burker, Evon, Sedway, & Egan, 2005 ; Degner, Hack, O’Neil, & Kristianson, 2003 ; Eidinger & Schapira, 1984 ; Luker, Beaver, Leinster, & Owens, 1996 ; Springer, 1994 ). Instruments to assess beliefs regarding illness as punishment for sin are also rare. Therefore, one was developed specifically for use in testing mediational models of the religion-health connection ( Holt, Clark, et al., 2009 ). The Penn Inventory of Scrupulosity (PIOS) also assess fears about having committed sin and receiving punishment from God, however this instrument is not health-specific and was developed and validated in an undergraduate sample ( Abramowitz, Huppert, Cohen, Tolin, & Cahill, 2002 ).

The Present Study

The purpose of this study was to test a theoretical model of the religion-health connection, to determine whether perceived religious influence on health behavior and illness as punishment for sin played a mediating role in a number of modifiable health behaviors in a national sample of African Americans. Although these two constructs have both been proposed as religion-health mediators, there has been limited empirical research testing their mediational role in health-related outcomes. This may be in part due to the limited availability of ways to assess these complex beliefs relating religious involvement and health. A review of religion and health research among African Americans indicated that few studies have focused on African Americans relative to non-Hispanic Whites ( Ellison et al., 2010 ). African Americans tend to have high levels of religious involvement. They are more likely than other groups to report a religious affiliation, over half report at least weekly service attendance (compared with 39% of the US general population), and almost 80% indicate that religion is important in their lives (compared with 56% of the US general population) ( Pew, 2009 ).

African Americans also suffer a disproportionate burden of health conditions and illness, making this lack of attention particularly unfortunate. Health behaviors play a significant role in the development of chronic disease, which account for 70% of annual deaths ( Kung, Hoyert, Xu, & Murphy, 2008 ). Several key behaviors are linked to longevity through their associations with the most common chronic diseases. These include avoiding excess alcohol use (e.g., men should have no more than 2 drinks per day, and women no more than one); avoiding tobacco; maintaining a healthy diet (e.g., eating fruits/vegetables, and avoiding foods high in fat and sodium); and getting regular physical activity ( Ford, Zhao, Tsai, & Li, 2011 ). Health behaviors are the basis for much of chronic disease and have been the target of health promotion efforts, including many community- and faith-based interventions.

The present study references a Religion-Health Mediational Model, based on a systematic review of the literature on religion/spirituality and health and a program of previous qualitative research ( Holt, Clark, et al., 2009 ; Holt, Lewellyn, & Rathweg, 2005 ). This model includes a set of constructs widely recognized to be potential mediators of the religion-health connection. The Religion and Health in African Americans, or “RHIAA” study is a national survey designed to test this theoretical model of the religion-health connection, comprised of a series of mechanisms (see Figure 1 ). Perceived religious influence on health behavior and illness as punishment are examined in the present analysis, which is part of a larger theory-testing initiative being conducted in the overall RHIAA study. While the current analysis focuses on two of the constructs, it is noted that statistical testing of a comprehensive theory is not feasible in a single analysis. Previous studies have examined other mediators, for example one on positive self-perceptions (e.g., self-esteem; self-efficacy) reporting that both in part mediated the relationship between religious beliefs and greater fruit and vegetable consumption, and lower alcohol use ( Holt, Roth, Clark, & Debnam, 2012 ). Another study with a similar dataset found that religious social support mediated the relationship between religious beliefs and emotional functioning and depressive symptoms among African Americans ( Holt, Wang, Clark, Williams, & Schulz, 2013 ).

Religion-Health Mediational Model

Note: Constructs in bold were included in the current analysis.

Telephone Survey Methods

The RHIAA study data collection methods have previously been reported elsewhere ( Holt, Roth, Clark, & Debnam, 2012 ). A professional sampling firm used probability-based methods to generate a call list of households from all 50 United States, constructed from publicly available data such as motor vehicle records. Trained interviewers selected telephone numbers randomly from this call list, and introduced the project to the adult living at the selected household. If that individual expressed interest, they were screened for eligibility to determine whether they self-identified as African American and age 21 or older, with no cancer history. Cancer diagnosis was an exclusion criterion for the larger RHIAA study that assessed screening data, as those with a previous diagnosis of cancer would be engaged in surveillance rather than screening. Individuals who were interested and eligible listened to an informed consent script and provided their verbal assent to participate. They completed the 45-minute interview and received a $25 gift card by mail. The study was approved by the University of Alabama at Birmingham and University of Maryland Institutional Review Boards.

Religious involvement

A validated Religiosity Scale previously used with African Americans assessed religious beliefs (e.g., presence of God in one’s life, perceiving a personal relationship with God) and behaviors (e.g., church service attendance, involvement in other church activities) ( Lukwago, Kreuter, Bucholtz, Holt, & Clark, 2001 ). Items are assessed in 5-point Likert-type format, with the exception of two monthly service attendance items that were assessed in 3-point format (0; 1–3; 4+). Scores range from 4–20 for beliefs and 5–21 for behaviors, with higher scores indicating higher religious involvement. Internal reliability of the beliefs (α=.89) and behaviors (α=.73) subscales was reasonable to high in this sample.

The Perceived Religious Influence on Health Behavior scale ( Holt, Schulz, & Wynn, 2009 ) consisted of 7 items (e.g., “I tend to avoid things harmful to my body because of my religious/spiritual beliefs.”; “God helps me to maintain a healthy lifestyle.”; see Appendix A for full scale) assessed in 4-point Likert-type format (strongly disagree, disagree, agree, strongly agree). The scale has a possible range of 7 – 28, with higher scores indicating higher levels of these beliefs. The internal consistency of the instrument was α = .87 in this sample. The average item-total correlation was .46 and ranged from .34 – .62, and test-retest reliability was modest during a two-week interval, r = .65, p < .001 ( Holt, Clark, et al., 2009 ).

Illness as punishment

The Illness as Punishment for Sin scale was comprised of 8 items (e.g., “God sometimes uses physical illnesses to punish people.”; see Appendix A for full scale) assessed in 4-point Likert-type format (strongly disagree, disagree, agree, strongly agree) ( Holt, Clark, et al., 2009 ). The scale has a possible range of 8 – 32, with higher scores indicating higher levels of these beliefs. The internal consistency of the instrument was α = .89 in the present sample. The average item-total correlation was .84 and ranged from .69 – .95, and test-retest reliability was acceptable during a two-week interval, r = .84, p < .001 ( Holt, Clark, et al., 2009 ).

Health behaviors

An adaptation of National Cancer Institute’s Five-A-Day Survey was used to assess fruit and vegetable consumption ( Block et al., 1986 ). The instrument was previously validated with the study population ( Kreuter et al., 2005 ). Seven items assess fruit consumption and 5 assess vegetable consumption (e.g., In a typical week, about how many times do you have…a piece of fresh fruit, like an apple, orange, banana, or pear). Fifteen different fruits and 18 vegetables are assessed using these items, including “other fruits” and “other vegetables”. The response scale ranges from 0 to 8 or more servings per week. Participants are asked to think about a typical week, and servings per day can be computed by summing all items and dividing by 7. The test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient) for the both the fruit ( r = .52, p < .001) and the vegetable ( r = .60, p < .001) portions were adequate over a two-week period.

Alcohol and tobacco use were assessed using modules from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). This established interview is administered nationally, and has been utilized with the study population. The BRFSS has demonstrated adequate test-retest reliability over a 21-day period among African Americans ( Stein, Lederman, & Shea, 1993 ). The alcohol consumption module includes an initial question on any alcohol use during the preceding 30 days (yes/no). Those who answer “yes,” are asked additional items assessing binge and heavy drinking (“Considering all types of alcoholic beverages, how many times during the past 30 days did you have 4/5 or more drinks on an occasion?”; “During the past 30 days, what is the largest number of drinks you had on any occasion?”). Participants indicate how many days, or how many drinks, respectively. The tobacco use item asks whether the individual smokes cigarettes every day (2), some days (1), or not at all (0).

Demographics

A standard demographic module assessed participant characteristics such as sex, age, relationship status, educational attainment, work status, and household income before taxes.

Statistical Methods

The current analyses were conducted using Mplus ( Muthén & Muthén, 1998–2012 ), applying maximum likelihood estimation methods. Confirmatory factor analysis models were run first that specified the observed items to be indicators of underlying latent constructs, in a modification of the traditional two-step approach ( Anderson & Gerbing, 1988 ). Second, structural models testing the significance of the mediated and unmediated effects of religious involvement on the health behavior outcomes were conducted. Fit statistics assessed included the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) as the primary fit criterion, with an RMSEA of 0.05 or less an indication of excellent fit. Standardized (STDYX) estimates are reported and tested for statistical significance. These standardized estimates represent the change in standard deviation units in the outcome variable that is associated with a 1.0 standard deviation change in the predictor variable.

The general arrangement of the structural models assessed is shown in Figure 2 . The mediators of perceived religious influence and illness as punishment were examined in separate models with 6 outcome variables (fruit servings per day, vegetable servings per day, drinking behavior (yes/no), largest number of drinks, number of binge drinking days, and current smoking status) for a total of 12 different structural models. The models for largest number of drinks and number of binge drinking days were analyzed on the subset of participants who reported any alcohol use in the previous 30 days. Across all models, 4 exogenous covariates (age, gender, education, self-rated health status) were included as predictors of the religious involvement independent variables, mediator, and health behavior outcome variable. The standardized estimates from these models corresponding to the mediated and unmediated/direct effects were assessed for statistical significance. These estimates are also effect size measures that were examined across outcome measures to assist in interpretation of findings across the models.

Structural model

Note: The two mediators were tested in separate structural models.

A total of 12,418 people were asked to participate and 2,370 completed the telephone interview. The overall response rate is calculated as accepted/[accepted + non-interviewed], and was 19%. Of individuals contacted but did not participate (N=10,048), 8,240 refused before eligibility could be assessed, 1,658 were not eligible [81 were under age 21, 444 did not provide an age for eligibility screening, 878 did not self-report as African American, 224 reported a history of cancer, and 5 refused to respond to the cancer history question]. Twenty-six individuals were not capable of participating in the interview. Only 150 were eligible but refused, resulting in an upper bound response rate of 94% (2,370/2,520). The upper bound response rate is the most liberal and includes only refusals, terminations, and completed interviews ( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1998 ). Table 1 provides a study sample description.

Participant demographic characteristics

Note. Numbers may not sum to 2,370 or 100% due to missing data.

Measurement Models

The two-factor measurement model (beliefs and behaviors) for religious involvement items has previously been reported for this sample ( Roth et al., 2012 ). Allowing for two correlated residuals – one between the first two items that load on the religious beliefs factor and reflect the concept of closeness with God, and one for two consecutive items that load on the religious behaviors factor and reflect attendance at religious services, excellent fit was observed for this measurement model (χ 2 = 138.57, df = 24, RMSEA = .045) ( Roth et al., 2012 ).

This religious involvement measurement model was then expanded by adding items and factors for the perceived religious influence on health behavior and illness as punishment models. The seven perceived religious influence on health behavior items formed one factor and the eight illness as punishment items formed another. Together with the two-factor religious involvement model (beliefs and behaviors), this overall measurement model provided a good fit to the data (χ 2 = 2116.03, df = 324, χ 2 /df = 6.53, RMSEA = .05, comparative fit index [CFI] = .94, Tucker Lewis Index [TLI] = .99). All items had reasonable and significant loadings on the appropriate factors. No additional modifications were considered.

Structural Models

Table 2 reports the relationships between the two religious involvement factors and 1) the mediating latent variables of perceived religious influence on health behavior and illness as punishment, and 2) the six health behavior outcome variables. Standardized estimates are reported both before and after accounting for the demographic covariates (age, gender, education, self-rated health) and the other religious involvement factor. This analysis suggests that, when controlling for both covariates and the religious behaviors, religious beliefs were positively associated with religious influence on health behaviors and negatively associated with illness as punishment. The controlled analysis also shows a negative association with fruit consumption and positive association with smoking, presumably due to a suppressor effect (described below). In analyses that controlled for both covariates and religious beliefs, religious behaviors were positively associated with both mediator variables, as well as fruit and vegetable consumption. Religious beliefs were negatively associated with all three alcohol use outcomes and smoking. Uncontrolled analyses as well as those controlled only for demographic covariates are also presented.

Standardized estimates of the unadjusted and adjusted effects of religious involvement on the mediators and health outcomes (N = 2358)

Note. CV = Covariate. Rel = Religious Involvement. The CV adjusted effects are adjusted for age, gender, education, and self-rated health. The CV-Rel adjusted effects are those adjusted for age, gender, education, self-rated health, and the other religious involvement latent factor.

Table 3 reports the standardized estimates for the structural models that were conducted to evaluate the mediation hypotheses. The standardized path estimates in Table 3 for the a, b, and c paths correspond to those illustrated in Figure 2 for each mediator and each health behavior analyzed separately. Table 3 also provides the RMSEA from each model when including the outcome variable and the four exogenous covariates. Because the a 1 and a 2 paths represent the relationship with religious beliefs and religious behaviors, respectively, with the mediator, these estimates are consistent and change very little from one health behavior outcome to another within a certain mediator variable. 1

Standardized estimates from the structural equation models testing mediation effects (N = 2358).

Note: RMSEA = root mean square error of approximation.

The a 1 , a 2 , b, c 1 , and c 2 entries are the standardized estimates that correspond to the paths illustrated in Figure 2 .

The “a” paths for the models examining perceived religious influence on health behavior as a mediator indicated that both religious beliefs and religious behaviors were positively associated with higher levels of perceived religious influence ( ps < .001; see Table 3 ).

Examining the “c” direct paths in these models, religious beliefs were negatively associated with fruit consumption ( p < .001), positively associated with greater likelihood of reporting alcohol use in the past 30 days ( p < .01), and associated with an increased likelihood of reporting smoking behavior ( p < .001; see Table 3 ). These direct effects are all in the opposite direction of what would be anticipated and are generally in the opposite direction of the unadjusted associations reported in Table 2 . Consequently, these direct effects are indicative of a suppressor effect ( MacKinnon, Fairchild, & Fritz, 2007 ; MacKinnon, Krull, & Lockwood, 2000 ) due to the high correlations among religious beliefs, religious behaviors, and perceived religious influence. Conversely, religious behaviors were associated with greater fruit ( p < .001) and vegetable consumption ( p < .01), lower likelihood of alcohol use in the past 30 days ( p < .001), lower likelihood of days with 4 or 5 drinks consumed ( p < .01) and fewer number of drinks on any drinking day ( p < .05). The relationship with smoking was non-significant. Similar results related to the “c” paths but involving different mediators have been previously reported for this sample ( Holt, Roth, et al., 2012 ).

Evaluating the “b” paths, or the relationships between the mediator and the health behavior outcome, perceived religious influence on health behavior was positively associated with fruit consumption ( p < .001), negatively associated with alcohol use in the past 30 days ( p < .001), and negatively associated with smoking status ( p < .001; see Table 3 ). Paths for the other health behaviors (e.g., vegetable consumption, days of 4/5 drinks; largest number of drinks) were non-significant.

The mediation analysis indicated evidence of mediation in the relationship between religious beliefs and the outcomes of fruit consumption, alcohol use in the past 30 days, and smoking status (see Table 3 , “Indirect” column). There was also evidence for mediation in the relationship between religious behaviors and these same three health behaviors. No evidence was provided for mediation in the other health behaviors.

Examining the “a” paths, level of religious beliefs were associated with lower levels of perceived illness as punishment for sin ( p < .01; see Table 3 ). Religious behaviors were positively associated with greater perceived illness as punishment for sin ( p < .001). However, when examining Table 2 where these relationships are examined in an unadjusted fashion, neither have significant relationships with illness as punishment.

Examining the “c” direct paths, level of religious beliefs were negatively associated with fruit consumption ( p < .01; see Table 3 ). This is in the opposite direction of what would be anticipated, and suggestive of the aforementioned suppressor effect ( Fritz, 2007 ; MacKinnon et al., 2007 ; MacKinnon et al., 2000 ). Conversely, religious behaviors were associated with greater fruit ( p < .001) and vegetable consumption ( p < .01), lower likelihood of alcohol use in the past 30 days ( p < .001), lower likelihood of days with 4 or 5 drinks consumed ( p < .01), fewer number of drinks on any drinking day ( p < .05), and lower likelihood of being a smoker ( p < .01).

Evaluating the “b” paths, or the relationships between the mediator and the health behavior outcome, illness as punishment was negatively associated with vegetable consumption ( p < .01), positively associated with likelihood of days with 4 or 5 drinks consumed ( p < .05), and associated with more drinks on any drinking day ( p < .05; see Table 3 ). Paths for the other health behaviors (e.g., fruit consumption, alcohol use in the past 30 days; smoking status) were non-significant.

The mediation analysis indicated evidence for mediation for the relationship between religious beliefs and vegetable consumption and largest number of drinks on any drinking day (see Table 3 , “Indirect” column). There was evidence for mediation between religious behaviors and vegetable consumption, likelihood of days with 4 or 5 drinks consumed, and largest number of drinks on any drinking day. No evidence of mediation was suggested for the other health behavior outcomes.

The present study examined the role of perceived religious influence on health behavior, and perceptions of illness as punishment for sin, as mediators of the relationship between religious involvement and health behaviors among healthy African American adults. Though previous theoretical models have suggested that perceived religious influence on health behavior (e.g., healthy lifestyle as a result of one’s religious beliefs) is a main reason why individuals who are religiously involved experience positive health outcomes, there has been surprisingly little research aimed specifically at testing this hypothesis. More broadly, religious involvement might have both positive and negative influences on one’s health. The notion that some people believe illness can occur as a punishment for one’s wrongdoings or sin has been previously reported in the literature ( Abramowitz et al., 2002 ; Crawford et al., 1992 ; Ellison, 1994 ; Ellison & Levin, 1998 ; Kaldjian et al., 1998 ; Klonoff & Landrine, 1994 ; Kopelman, 2002 ; Neylan et al., 1998 ), but as of yet has gone untested as a religion-health mechanism. The present study addresses the complex relationships between religious involvement, perceived religious influence on health behavior, perceptions of illness as punishment for sin, and health behaviors.

Religious Involvement and the Mediators

Those high in religious beliefs and behaviors tended to report high belief in performing health behaviors in accord with religious doctrine. This would be an anticipated relationship with religious beliefs and participation; however the relationships with perceptions of illness as punishment for sin were somewhat puzzling. Religious beliefs and behaviors were individually not associated with illness as punishment, but when controlling for each other, religious beliefs were positively associated and religious behaviors were negatively associated with belief in illness as punishment for sin. This analysis was based on the variance in religious beliefs and behaviors that was not shared between the two aspects of religious involvement. Given the high positive correlation between religious beliefs and behaviors, the remaining smaller amounts of independent variance for these constructs are associated with belief in illness as punishment in opposing and counterbalanced directions. Therefore, the seemingly counterintuitive finding of a positive association between religious behaviors and illness as punishment is only observed after statistically controlling for religious beliefs.

Religious Involvement and Health Behaviors

We found that religious behaviors were associated with protective health measures such as fruit and vegetable consumption. As previously reported ( Holt, Roth, et al., 2012 ), religious beliefs, when accounting for the suppressor effect, were associated with greater fruit consumption and lower alcohol use. These findings would be expected given the literature on the salutary relationship between religious involvement and health ( Koenig et al., 2012 ). In a recent review, it was suggested that “all major religious traditions have rules and regulations concerning diet, sexual practices, and other health-related behaviors, although they vary in the extent to which such guidelines are enforced.” ( Koenig et al., 2012 , p. 535). This review indicated that 62% of the studies examined reported a positive association between religiosity and diet quality. Previous research has suggested that religious involvement is associated with higher fruit and vegetable consumption specifically ( Holt, Haire-Joshu, Lukwago, Lewellyn, & Kreuter, 2005 ).

Religious behaviors were also associated and lower alcohol use and smoking. Religious sanctions that come from involvement in a religious community may protect against alcohol consumption ( Musick, Blazer, & Hays, 2000 ; Strawbridge et al., 2001 ). In the current sample, 58% of people reported that they had not consumed an alcoholic beverage in the previous 30 days. This is consistent with previous research that suggests African Americans consume alcohol at rates lower than national averages ( Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2010 ).

Mediators and Health Behaviors

Those who believed in maintaining a healthy lifestyle in accord with religious doctrine tended to have higher fruit consumption and lower rates of alcohol use and smoking. Again, these behavioral patterns would clearly be expected based on theory in this area ( Ellison & Levin, 1998 ; George et al., 2002 ; George et al., 2000 ; Levin & Vanderpool, 1989 ; Mullen, 1990 ; Musick, Traphagan, et al., 2000 ; Strawbridge et al., 2001 ). Similarly, those who believed that a higher power might use illness as a punishment for wrongdoings or sin had lower vegetable consumption and were more likely to engage in binge drinking behaviors. This too is consistent with expectations from the aforementioned previous literature on this construct.

Mediational Findings

The analyses supported the occurrence of mediation in several cases. It appears that the relationship between religious beliefs and fruit consumption, alcohol use in the past 30 days, and smoking was, at least in part accounted for by perceived religious influence on health behavior. The same was true for religious behaviors. As proposed by previous researchers ( Ellison & Levin, 1998 ; George et al., 2002 ; George et al., 2000 ; Levin & Vanderpool, 1989 ; Mullen, 1990 ; Musick, Traphagan, et al., 2000 ; Strawbridge et al., 2001 ), individuals who are religiously involved may tend to live a healthier lifestyle in accord with their religious traditions. It is interesting that the same mediational patterns were evidenced for both religious beliefs and behaviors. While this may initially seem reasonable, with religious involvement being a multidimensional construct, it is not unusual for religious beliefs and behaviors to operate differently with regard to relationships with health behaviors. This suggests that both religious beliefs such as having a close personal relationship with a higher power, and behaviors/participation through organized worship both work to reinforce healthy lifestyle habits. It is also interesting in the current findings that this appears to apply to both health risk (heavy alcohol use, smoking) and protective (dietary) behaviors. Future studies should conduct such analyses on health-related outcomes such as illness and/or mortality.

The mediational analyses suggest that the relationship between religious beliefs and vegetable consumption and binge drinking is, at least in part, accounted for by the perception that illness is the result of punishment for sin. This suggests that individuals with strong religious beliefs are less likely to believe that illness is punishment for sin, and this translates to increased vegetable consumption and decreased binge drinking. The analyses also suggest that the same mediational findings for the relationship between religious behaviors and vegetable consumption and binge drinking. However, in these models, the signs are in the opposite directions. This suggests that individuals who are religiously involved are more likely to believe that illness is punishment for sin, and this translates to decreased vegetable consumption and more binge drinking.

The findings in Table 2 are needed to interpret this seemingly inconsistent effect. Note that the bivariate unadjusted relationship between religious beliefs and behaviors and illness as punishment are non-significant. Then, when controlling for the other religious involvement subscale, these relationships become significant and in the opposite direction, such that religious beliefs becomes negatively associated and behaviors becomes positively associated. This is suggestive of the aforementioned suppressor effect, which persists in Table 3 (columns a 1 and a 2 ), where the paths involving religious beliefs and behaviors are in the opposite directions. Because the mediation paths are a function of the multiplicative effects of the a x b paths, these signs directly impact the mediation effects. Taken together, and in the context of the suppressor effect, these findings may be considered to be consistent with previous literature, in that individuals with increased belief in illness as punishment for sin would engage in less adaptive health behaviors ( Ellison, 1994 ; Ellison & Levin, 1998 ). However, additional research is needed to confirm these findings.

Strengths and Limitations

Several factors strengthen the current findings. First, the focus was on African Americans, a population that carries a significant burden of chronic disease and has not been the focus of research in the way that other groups have been ( Ellison et al., 2010 ). Second, the RHIAA dataset was intended specifically for testing theoretical models of the religion-health connection and used validated measures in doing so, rather than using secondary data. Third, the present analysis used modeling techniques that allowed for mediational relationships to be assessed.

Several limitations should also be considered. First, the use of telephone survey methods introduces a certain bias. The full nature of this bias is unknowable. Response bias presents a data problem if there is an impact on data quality that is not random ( Langer, 2003 ). The current response rates are comparable to a national telephone survey that over-sampled African Americans ( Hartmann, Gerteis, & Edgell, 2003 ), and are consistent with recently reported decreases in response rates for typical telephone surveys, from 36% in 1997, to 25% in 2003, to 9% in ( Pew, 2012 ). Relative to the U.S. Black population, the current sample is older than the US median age of 32.7 years (current median = 54.0); contains fewer men (current = 38.2%; US = 47.7% male); is more educated (current % attended 4+ years of college = 26%; US = 18.4%) (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011 ); and is as likely to report attending religious services at least once per week (current = 50.6%; US = 53%) ( Pew, 2009 ). Given this, a potential impact on the study findings may be that the sample may hold stronger religious beliefs than average, given that they are more likely to be older and women ( Levin et al., 1994 ). It is possible that, being relatively well educated, they may also have better health behaviors than average. Taken together, the study may over-estimate the religion-health connection in an average African American. However, one must always be careful when working with averages and making generalizations to a very heterogenous population group.

Second, the current analyses focused on two mediators from the literature, perceived religious influence on health behavior and illness as punishment. As previously discussed, although perceived religious influence on health behavior is probably the most widely cited potential mechanism of the religion-health connection, there are other significant factors that may help account for this complex relationship including but not limited to social support and positive affective states. Though these are potentially important, structural models become difficult to interpret as additional constructs are added. The RHIAA approach was to aim for a more clear understanding of fewer mediators at a time, rather than a larger but incomprehensible model. Third, because the current data were cross sectional, conclusions about causality are not possible. Longitudinal data would be required to make such assertions, an initiative on which the RHIAA team is currently embarking.

Implications and Future Research

These findings indicate that people who are religiously involved may experience better health outcomes because they engage in healthy lifestyles in accord with their religious beliefs, and that belief that illness is the result of punishment from a higher power could play a potentially maladaptive role in health behaviors. With regard to implications for the illness as punishment findings, this is where church-based counseling or pastoral counseling may play a role in working with individuals who may hold such beliefs, with a spiritual sensitivity and competence ( Pargament, Mahoney, & Shafranske, 2013 ).

By focusing on African Americans, a population adversely impacted by most chronic disease, the study is framed in the context of health disparities, thereby enhancing the public health significance of the findings. Healthy People 2020, along with setting specific health-related goals for the US population, aims to attain health equity and eliminate health disparities group ( U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010 ). Because so much of chronic disease has behavioral origins ( Ford et al., 2011 ), it is important to learn more about how salient cultural beliefs that associated with health behavioral outcomes.

There has been a steady focus on faith-based organizations as venues for health promotion activities ( Levin, 2013 ), particularly in African American communities ( Levin, 1984 ). African American churches serve as a cornerstone of the communities they serve, and are places where their members have been able to receive guidance and services on matters far beyond spiritual ( Lincoln & Mamiya, 1990 ). The church is a venue where people who may not otherwise be connected with the health care system can receive health information from trusted sources. By learning more about how religious involvement is associated with health behaviors, this information can be used to inform such interventions. This information can not only be helpful to researchers but also to faith-based leaders who are involved in health ministry activities, or things that faith-based organizations do in order to improve the health of their memberships. Finally, Levin (2013) described an agenda for the Surgeon General, that highlighted the role of faith communities in health promotion, consistent with an upstream approach to public health. The current findings reinforce the need to continue to engage with faith-based organizations that serve African Americans, in the effort to eliminate health disparities.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the National Cancer Institute, (#1 R01 CA105202) and was approved by the University of Maryland Institutional Review Board (#08-0328). The team would like to acknowledge the work of OpinionAmerica, who conducted participant recruitment and data collection activities for the present study.

Appendix A: Items comprising mediator scales

Adapted from: Holt, Clark, Roth, Crowther, Cohler, Fouad, … Southward, 2009 .

1 Additional analyses were also conducted for a measure of physical activity as an outcome variable, but preliminary analyses indicated that physical activity was not significantly associated with either religious involvement or the mediating variables, precluding any significant mediation effects.

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Do You Need Religion for Life Meaning and Purpose?

Research reveals the surprising role of religion in life meaning and purpose..

Posted June 20, 2016 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

What Is the Meaning of Life for You? By Gleb Tsipursky Ph.D.

Imagine the following scenario: you have been raised in a deeply evangelical household. From an early age, your parents taught you to pray daily and told you that the purpose and meaning of life were found in God. Attending Sunday school reinforced this message. So did the television that your family watched, the books that they gave you to read, and the music to which they encouraged you to listen. You grew up in this environment throughout your early teenage years, attending a religious elementary and junior high school. Then, you went off to a local high school, because your parents could not afford a religious high school. There, you met an environment that challenged your beliefs that the purpose and meaning in life were to be found only in God. You started to question and doubt, maybe even attended meetings of the local affiliate of the Secular Student Alliance to find out what it was all about. You wanted to explore more broadly, but were afraid of losing your sense of purpose and meaning in life.

This is the story of many students that I have taught in my role as a professor , as well as for those who have come to Intentional Insights presentations on “Finding Meaning and Purpose in Life.” They were deeply confused about meaning and purpose in life, questioning what it was all about. They are wise to do so, as research shows that having a clear answer to the question of life meaning and purpose can greatly improve our mental well-being. This questioning correlates with the growing number of “nones,” people without any religious affiliation in American society, especially among younger adults. Many nones, and young people in general , are seeking answers that don’t necessarily include a God as part of the equation. Recently, several books have explored this possibility, that of having life meaning and purpose or a sense of spirituality without God, as part of the public conversation.

So what does research on this issue show? Apparently, the important thing is simply to gain a sense of life purpose and meaning : the source of the purpose itself is not so important. Religion can be one among many channels to help someone gain a sense of life meaning. The pioneer in this field, Victor Frankl, was a Viennese psychiatrist who lived through the Holocaust concentration camps. In his research and work, both in the camps and afterward in private practice, he found that the crucial thing for individuals surviving and thriving in life is to develop a personal sense of purpose and meaning, what he terms the “will-to-meaning.” His work correlates with the philosophical position of existentialism , the idea that the source of life meaning and purpose lies within ourselves as individuals. There are many paths to do so. For example, Frankl helped people find purpose and meaning in life through helping others to remember their joys, sorrows, sacrifices, and blessings, and thereby bring to mind the meaningfulness of their lives as already lived.

Frankl’s approach to psychotherapy came to be called logotherapy, and forms part of a broader therapeutic practice known as existential psychotherapy. This philosophically-informed therapy stems from the notion that internal tensions and conflicts stem from one’s confrontation with the challenges of the nature of life itself, and relate back to the notions brought up by Sartre and other existentialist philosophers. These challenges, according to Irvin Yalom in his Existential Psychotherapy, include: facing the reality and the responsibility of our freedom; dealing with the inevitability of death; the stress of individual isolation; finally, the difficulty of finding meaning in life ( Yalom ). These four issues correlate to what existential therapy holds as the four key dimensions of human existence, the physical, social, personal, and spiritual realms, based on extensive psychological research and therapy practice ( Cooper ).

So where does this leave us? Religion is only one among many ways of developing a personal sense of life meaning and greater sense of personal agency. One intentional approach to gaining life meaning and purpose involves occasionally stopping and thinking about our lives and experiences: we can find an individual sense of life purpose and meaning through the lives we already lead. A great way to do so is through journaling—it can help us deal with stress, process sorrows, experience personal growth, learn more effectively, and gain positive emotions through expressing gratitude .

Did you ever try journaling? If not, I encourage you to try it out and let us know what you found. If you did, what kind of benefits did you get? What kind of challenges did you run into? From your experience, how can the process of journaling be optimized?

P.S. For additional resources, check out this workbook with exercises on finding meaning and purpose using science-based strategies; this free science-based web app to evaluate your current sense of meaning and purpose; this free online class on finding meaning and purpose using science; and the wide variety of other resources on meaning and purpose available at Intentional Insights.

___________

I run a nonprofit that helps you reach your goals using science to build an altruistic and flourishing world, Intentional Insights , authored Find Your Purpose Using Science , among other books, and regularly contribute to prominent venues; and am a tenure-track professor at Ohio State.

Gleb Tsipursky, Ph.D. , is on the editorial board of the journal Behavior and Social Issues. He is in private practice.

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5 The Purpose of Religion

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• Published: September 2005
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The purposes of the practice of a religion are to achieve the goals of salvation for oneself and others, and (if there is a God) to render due worship and obedience to God. Different religions have different understandings of salvation and God. It is rational for someone to pursue these goals by following a religious way (the practices commended by some religion, e.g., Buddhism or Christianity), in so far as they judge that it would be greatly worthwhile to achieve those goals and in so far as they judge that it is to some degree probable that they will attain them by following the way of that religion. They will judge that in so far as they judge the creed of that religion to be to some degree probable (not necessarily more probable than not). The goals of the Christian religion are better than those of Buddhism.

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Three Essays on Religion

Author:  King, Martin Luther, Jr.

Date:  September 1, 1948 to May 31, 1951 ?

Location:  Chester, Pa. ?

Genre:  Essay

Topic:  Martin Luther King, Jr. - Education

In the following three essays, King wrestles with the role of religion in modern society. In the first assignment, he calls science and religion “different though converging truths” that both “spring from the same seeds of vital human needs.” King emphasizes an awareness of God’s presence in the second document, noting that religion’s purpose “is not to perpetuate a dogma or a theology; but to produce living witnesses and testimonies to the power of God in human experience.” In the final handwritten essay King acknowledges the life-affirming nature of Christianity, observing that its adherents have consistently “looked forward for a time to come when the law of love becomes the law of life.”

"Science and Religion"

There is widespread belief in the minds of many that there is a conflict between science and religion. But there is no fundamental issue between the two. While the conflict has been waged long and furiously, it has been on issues utterly unrelated either to religion or to science. The conflict has been largely one of trespassing, and as soon as religion and science discover their legitimate spheres the conflict ceases.

Religion, of course, has been very slow and loath to surrender its claim to sovereignty in all departments of human life; and science overjoyed with recent victories, has been quick to lay claim to a similar sovereignty. Hence the conflict.

But there was never a conflict between religion and science as such. There cannot be. Their respective worlds are different. Their methods are dissimilar and their immediate objectives are not the same. The method of science is observation, that of religion contemplation. Science investigates. Religion interprets. One seeks causes, the other ends. Science thinks in terms of history, religion in terms of teleology. One is a survey, the other an outlook.

The conflict was always between superstition disguised as religion and materialism disguised as science, between pseudo-science and pseudo-religion.

Religion and science are two hemispheres of human thought. They are different though converging truths. Both science and religion spring from the same seeds of vital human needs.

Science is the response to the human need of knowledge and power. Religion is the response to the human need for hope and certitude. One is an outreaching for mastery, the other for perfection. Both are man-made, and like man himself, are hedged about with limitations. Neither science nor religion, by itself, is sufficient for man. Science is not civilization. Science is organized knowledge; but civilization which is the art of noble and progressive communal living requires much more than knowledge. It needs beauty which is art, and faith and moral aspiration which are religion. It needs artistic and spiritual values along with the intellectual.

Man cannot live by facts alone. What we know is little enough. What we are likely to know will always be little in comparison with what there is to know. But man has a wish-life which must build inverted pyramids upon the apexes of known facts. This is not logical. It is, however, psychological.

Science and religion are not rivals. It is only when one attempts to be the oracle at the others shrine that confusion arises. Whan the scientist from his laboratory, on the basis of alleged scientific knowledge presumes to issue pronouncements on God, on the origin and destiny of life, and on man's place in the scheme of things he is [ passing? ] out worthless checks. When the religionist delivers ultimatums to the scientist on the basis of certain cosomologies embedded in the sacred text then he is a sorry spectacle indeed.

When religion, however, on the strength of its own postulates, speaks to men of God and the moral order of the universe, when it utters its prophetic burden of justice and love and holiness and peace, then its voice is the voice of the eternal spiritual truth, irrefutable and invincible.,

"The Purpose of Religion"

What is the purpose of religion? 1  Is it to perpetuate an idea about God? Is it totally dependent upon revelation? What part does psychological experience play? Is religion synonymous with theology?

Harry Emerson Fosdick says that the most hopeful thing about any system of theology is that it will not last. 2  This statement will shock some. But is the purpose of religion the perpetuation of theological ideas? Religion is not validated by ideas, but by experience.

This automatically raises the question of salvation. Is the basis for salvation in creeds and dogmas or in experience. Catholics would have us believe the former. For them, the church, its creeds, its popes and bishops have recited the essence of religion and that is all there is to it. On the other hand we say that each soul must make its own reconciliation to God; that no creed can take the place of that personal experience. This was expressed by Paul Tillich when he said, “There is natural religion which belongs to man by nature. But there is also a revealed religion which man receives from a supernatural reality.” 3 Relevant religion therefore, comes through revelation from God, on the one hand; and through repentance and acceptance of salvation on the other hand. 4  Dogma as an agent in salvation has no essential place.

This is the secret of our religion. This is what makes the saints move on in spite of problems and perplexities of life that they must face. This religion of experience by which man is aware of God seeking him and saving him helps him to see the hands of God moving through history.

Religion has to be interpreted for each age; stated in terms that that age can understand. But the essential purpose of religion remains the same. It is not to perpetuate a dogma or theology; but to produce living witnesses and testimonies to the power of God in human experience.

[ signed ] M. L. King Jr. 5

"The Philosophy of Life Undergirding Christianity and the Christian Ministry"

Basically Christianity is a value philosophy. It insists that there are eternal values of intrinsic, self-evidencing validity and worth, embracing the true and the beautiful and consummated in the Good. This value content is embodied in the life of Christ. So that Christian philosophy is first and foremost Christocentric. It begins and ends with the assumption that Christ is the revelation of God. 6

We might ask what are some of the specific values that Christianity seeks to conserve? First Christianity speaks of the value of the world. In its conception of the world, it is not negative; it stands over against the asceticisms, world denials, and world flights, for example, of the religions of India, and is world-affirming, life affirming, life creating. Gautama bids us flee from the world, but Jesus would have us use it, because God has made it for our sustenance, our discipline, and our happiness. 7  So that the Christian view of the world can be summed up by saying that it is a place in which God is fitting men and women for the Kingdom of God.

Christianity also insists on the value of persons. All human personality is supremely worthful. This is something of what Schweitzer has called “reverence for life.” 8  Hunan being must always be used as ends; never as means. I realize that there have been times that Christianity has short at this point. There have been periods in Christians history that persons have been dealt with as if they were means rather than ends. But Christianity at its highest and best has always insisted that persons are intrinsically valuable. And so it is the job of the Christian to love every man because God love love. We must not love men merely because of their social or economic position or because of their cultural contribution, but we are to love them because  God  they are of value to God.

Christianity is also concerned about the value of life itself. Christianity is concerned about the good life for every  child,  man,  and  woman and child. This concern for the good life and the value of life is no where better expressed than in the words of Jesus in the gospel of John: “I came that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly.” 9  This emphasis has run throughout the Christian tradition. Christianity has always had a concern for the elimination of disease and pestilence. This is seen in the great interest that it has taken in the hospital movement.

Christianity is concerned about increasing value. The whole concept of the kingdom of God on earth expressing a concern for increasing value. We need not go into a dicussion of the nature and meaning of the Kingdom of God, only to say that Christians throughout the ages have held tenaciouly to this concept. They have looked forward for a time to come when the law of love becomes the law of life.

In the light of all that we have said about Christianity as a value philosophy, where does the ministry come into the picture? 10

1.  King may have also considered the purpose of religion in a Morehouse paper that is no longer extant, as he began a third Morehouse paper, “Last week we attempted to discuss the purpose of religion” (King, “The Purpose of Education,” September 1946-February 1947, in  Papers  1:122).

2.  “Harry Emerson Fosdick” in  American Spiritual Autobiographies: Fifteen Self-Portraits,  ed. Louis Finkelstein (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1948), p. 114: “The theology of any generation cannot be understood, apart from the conditioning social matrix in which it is formulated. All systems of theology are as transient as the cultures they are patterned from.”

3.  King further developed this theme in his dissertation: “[Tillich] finds a basis for God's transcendence in the conception of God as abyss. There is a basic inconsistency in Tillich's thought at this point. On the one hand he speaks as a religious naturalist making God wholly immanent in nature. On the other hand he speaks as an extreme supernaturalist making God almost comparable to the Barthian ‘wholly other’” (King, “A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman,” 15 April 1955, in  Papers  2:535).

4.  Commas were added after the words “religion” and “salvation.”

5.  King folded this assignment lengthwise and signed his name on the verso of the last page.

6.  King also penned a brief outline with this title (King, “The Philosophy of Life Undergirding Christianity and the Christian Ministry,” Outline, September 1948-May 1951). In the outline, King included the reference “see Enc. Of Religion p. 162.” This entry in  An Encyclopedia of Religion,  ed. Vergilius Ferm (New York: Philosophical Library, 1946) contains a definition of Christianity as “Christo-centric” and as consisting “of eternal values of intrinsic, self-evidencing validity and worth, embracing the true and the beautiful and consummated in the Good.” King kept this book in his personal library.

7.  Siddhartha Gautama (ca. 563-ca. 483 BCE) was the historical Buddha.

8.  For an example of Schweitzer's use of the phrase “reverence for life,” see Albert Schweitzer, “The Ethics of Reverence for Life,”  Christendom  1 (1936): 225-239.

9.  John 10:10.

10.  In his outline for this paper, King elaborated: “The Ministry provides leadership in helping men to recognize and accept the eternal values in the Xty religion. a. The necessity of a call b. The necessity for disinterested love c. The [ necessity ] for moral uprightness” (King, “Philosophy of Life,” Outline, September 1948-May 1951).

Source:  CSKC-INP, Coretta Scott King Collection, In Private Hands, Sermon file.

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Religion and Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Positive Virtues

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• Published: 20 January 2018
• Volume 58 , pages 119–131, ( 2019 )

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• Swati Sharma 1 &
• Kamlesh Singh 1  

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Researchers have consistently advocated positive associations between religion and well-being. The present research takes a step forward and explores potential mechanisms behind the same. The mediating role of a surprisingly neglected mechanism, positive virtues, specifically gratitude, forgiveness and altruism, is studied through a quantitative study on a sample of 220 adult respondents residing in Delhi NCR. The participants adhered to one of the six major religions present in India. Mediational analysis revealed that gratitude mediated the relationship between religiosity, spirituality and well-being via two pathways of forgiveness and altruism. The implications for researchers and practitioners working in the field of mental health are discussed.

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Sharma, S., Singh, K. Religion and Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Positive Virtues. J Relig Health 58 , 119–131 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-018-0559-5

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Published : 20 January 2018

Issue Date : 15 February 2019

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-018-0559-5

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